183930060-10-steps-to-improve-reading-1-pdf.pdf

FOURTH EDITION

TEN STEPS to

IMPROVING COLLEGE READING SKILLS

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FOURTH EDITION

TEN STEPS to

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COLLEGE READING SKILLS

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John Langan

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Townsend Press Reading Series Books: Fundamentals of College Reading Skills Ten Steps to Develop College Reading Skills Ten Steps to Improve College Reading Skills Ten Steps to Boost College Reading Skills Vocabulary Skills Building Vocabulary Skills , short version Improving Vocabulary Skills Improving Vocabulary Skills, Short Version Building Vocabulary Skills Building Vocabulary Skills, Short Version Advanced Word Power supplements available for most books: Teacher's Edition Teacher's Guide and Word Bank tests Computer software (Windows or Macintosh) online -Exercises

Mail book orders and requests for desktop copies or supplements to: Townsend Press Book Center 1038 Industrial Drive West Berlin, NJ 08091 For even faster service, contact us in one of the following ways: By phone: 1-800-772- 6410 By fax : 1-800-225-8894 By email:[Email protected]Through our website: www.townsendpress.com

Contents Prologue: To the speakers

INTRODUCTION

viii

1 How to Become a Better Reader and Thinker 2 Read with Joy and Power 3

Some quick learning tips

PART Ten Steps to Improve Reading Skills in College 1 Vocabulary in Context 21 Reading: Night Watch Roy Popkin Mastery Tests 41

2 Main Ideas 53 Reading: About Your Health Joan Dunayer Mastery Tests 83

3 Supporting Details 95 Reading: Parenting Styles Diane E. Papalia and Sally Wendkos Olds 116 Mastery Tests 121 4 Major Implicit Ideas and the Main Point Reading: Rowing the Bus Paul Logan 154 Mastery Tests 161 5 Relationships I 173 Reading: Students in Shock John Kellmayer Mastery Tests 199 6 Relationships II 211 Reading: I Became His Target Roger Wilkins Mastery Tests 239

133

193

234

7 Facts and Opinions 259 Reading: New respect for siesta, a pause that refreshes Jane E. Brody 111 Mastery Tests 283 B.C.

CONTENTS

8 Conclusion 295 Reading: Gender Inequality in Health Care and the Workplace James M. Henslin 3 20 Mastery Tests 327 9 Purpose and Tone 339 Reading: The Marta Salinas Scholarship Jacket Mastery Tests 367 10 Argument 379 Reading: F Word Praise Mary Sherry Mastery Tests 403

360

397

PART II Ten Reading Samples 1

the yellow ribbon

2 Urban Legend 3

415

Shame

pedro hamill

beth johnson

dick gregorio

in 425

434

4 The bystander effect Dorothy Barhin 443 5 The true story of flight 93 Karen Breslau, Eleanor Clift and Evan Thomas 453 6

dealing with nervousness

Rudolf F. Verderber

464

Compliance Techniques: Getting People to Say Yes Shelley E. Taylor, Letitia Anne Peplau, and David O. Sears

Lizzie Borden

James Kirby Martin and others

9 Non-verbal communication 10

pre-industrial cities

501

513

545 559

3 More about the argument: errors in reasoning 4 writing tasks

583

pronunciation guide

597

restricted answer key

599

thank you index

493

511

Combined skills tests

2 Propaganda Mastery Tests

Anthony F Grasha

rodney stark

PART III For further study

483

607

609

read performance graph

inside back cover

571

473

Prologue: To the Master

We all know that many students entering college today lack the reading skills necessary to be effective in their courses. A related problem, evident even in classroom discussions, is that students often lack the skills to think clearly and logically. The purpose of Ten Steps to Improve College Reading Skills, Fourth Edition, is to develop effective reading and clear thinking. To this end, Part I presents a sequence of ten reading skills that are widely recognized as essential for basic and advanced comprehension. The first six skills relate to more literal levels of comprehension: • Understand vocabulary in context • Recognize main ideas • Identify supporting details • Recognize implied main ideas and central point • Understand relationships that require addition and timing • Understand relationships involving examples, comparisons and/or contrast, and cause and effect Remaining skills cover the more advanced critical levels of understanding: • Distinguish between fact and opinion • Draw conclusions • Identify an author's objective and tone • Evaluate arguments vii

PROLOGUE: TO THE TEACHER

Each chapter in Part I clearly and simply explains and illustrates the key aspects of a skill. The explanations are accompanied by a series of exercises, and each chapter ends with four recovery tests. The final review test consists of reading selections so students can apply newly learned skills to actual reading material, including newspaper and magazine articles and textbook selections. Together, the ten chapters provide students with the skills necessary for basic and more advanced reading comprehension. After each Part I chapter, there are at least six mastery tests for that skill. The tests increase in difficulty, giving students the extra practice and challenge they need to solidly learn each skill. While the tests are designed for quick grading, they also require students to think carefully before answering each question. Part II consists of ten additional readings that improve reading and thinking skills. Each reading is followed by basic skills questions and advanced skills questions to allow students to practice the ten skills presented in Part I. In addition, an outlining, mapping, or summarizing activity after each reading helps students think hard. about the underlying content and organization of a selection. Discussion questions then provide instructors with a final opportunity to engage students in a variety of reading and thinking skills, thereby deepening their understanding of an election. Part III serves a variety of purposes. 15 interdisciplinary passages and tests verify the skills taught in Part I and prepare students for the standardized reading test often required at the end of a semester. A section on propaganda techniques provides guidance and practice on a reading skill some (but probably not all) teachers will draw on. Below is a section on logical fallacies that can be covered based on student needs and course requirements. Finally, there are writing assignments for every twenty readings in the text. If time allows, asking students to write about a selection helps reinforce the reading and thinking skills they practiced in the book.

Key features of the book • Focus on the basics. The book is designed to explain the essential elements of each skill in a clear, step-by-step manner. Many examples are provided to ensure students understand each point. In general, the focus is on teaching the skills, not just explaining or testing them. • Frequent practice and feedback. Since lots of practice and careful feedback are essential to learning, this book is packed with activities. Students can get instant feedback on the practice problems in Part I by referring to the Limited Answer Key at the end of the book. Answers to the Part I Mastery and Review Tests, Part II Reading Questions, and Part III Composite Skills Tests can be found in the Instructor's Manual.

PROLOGUE: TO THE TEACHER

The limited response key increases the active role students take in their own learning. They are likely to use the Answer Key in an honest and positive way, knowing that they will be tested on many activities and options for which no answers are provided. (Answers not included in the book can simply be copied from the Instructor Edition or Instructor Guide and distributed at the instructor's discretion.) • High interest. Boring, one-sided reading and practice works against learning. Students must have genuine interest and enjoyment in what they are reading. Teachers should also be happy with the selection, because their own good feeling can have a positive effect on the teaching work. Therefore, the book readings were chosen not only for their appropriate reading level, but also for their engaging content. They must involve teachers and students alike. • The ease of use. The logical progression in each chapter, from explanation to example to practice, repeat test, and mastery test, helps make the skills easy to teach. Organizing the book into different parts also makes it easy to use. For example, within a class, teachers can work on a new skill in Part I, test other skills with one or more proficiency tests, and add variety by having students read one of the selections in Part II. The limited solution key at the end of the text also ensures versatility: the teacher can allocate some chapters for self-study. Finally, mastery tests, each on their own tear-out page, and combined skills tests make it simple for teachers to assess and assess student progress. • Integration of skills. Students not only learn the skills individually in Part I, but also learn to apply the skills together through reading selections in Parts I and II and combined skills tests in Part III. Through repeated practice using a combination of skills, they become effective readers and thinkers. • Online exercises. As they complete each of the ten chapters, students are invited to go online to the Townsend Press website to work on two additional practice exercises for each skill, exercises that reinforce the skill taught in the chapter. • Thinking activities. Thinking activities, in the form of outlines, maps, and summaries, are a distinctive feature of the book. While educators agree that such organizational skills are important, these skills are rarely taught. From a practical point of view, it is almost impossible for a teacher to go into detail about entire collections of summaries or lesson summaries. This book then introduces activities that really engage students in drawing, mapping, and summarizing—in other words, that really get students thinking, yet still allow a teacher to provide immediate feedback. Again, it is through continued practice and feedback on challenging material that a student becomes a more effective reader and thinker.

PROLOGUE: TO THE TEACHER

• Complementary materials. The three helpful additions listed below are available free of charge to teachers who have adopted the text. Any or all of them can be quickly obtained by writing or calling Townsend Press (1038 Industrial Drive, West Berlin, NJ 08091; 1-800-772-6410), faxing 1-800-225-8894, or emailing Low Customer Service. 1 The Instructor's Edition, probably the one you are holding in your hands, is identical to the Student's Book, except that it also includes Instructor's Notes (see front of book), answers to all exercises and tests, and comments on the selected items. 2 A combined Test Bank and Instructor's Guide includes suggestions for teaching the course, a sample syllabus, and readability levels for the text and reading options. The test database contains four additional proficiency tests for each of the ten skills and four additional tests for combined skills, all on letter-size sheets for easy copying by students. 3 The computer software (Windows and Macintosh formats) provides two additional proficiency tests for each of the book's ten skill chapters. The software includes a number of user and instructor friendly features: short answer explanations, a sound option, frequent user name calls, a continuous score, and a score file. • One of a series of books. This is the interlude in a series that includes three other books. The first book in the series, Essentials for College Reading, is appropriate for ESL students and adults in elementary school. The second book, Ten Steps to Developing College Reading Skills, is often the choice for a first-time college reading course. The enhancement book is appropriate for the basic reading promotion course offered at most colleges. Ten Steps to Advance College Reading Skills is a follow-up text to the Improve book. It can be used as a basic book for a more advanced class, as a continuation of the Intermediate book, or as an alternative in the second semester. A companion set of vocabulary books has been developed to accompany the ten-step books and is listed on the copyright page. This book is recommended to improve vocabulary (300 words and parts of words) or improve vocabulary in short version (200 words). Together, the books and all their supplements form a set that should be ideal for any college reading program. In summary, Ten Steps to Improving College Reading Skills, Fourth Edition, provides ten key reading skills to support college students in their development to become independent readers and thinkers. Through an engaging reading collection and a series of carefully designed activities and tests, students receive comprehensive guided practice in skills. The result is an integrated approach to learning that will produce better readers and stronger thinkers by the end of the course.

PROLOGUE: TO THE TEACHER

Changes in the Fourth Edition Instructors' suggestions and classroom use of the text have resulted in a number of important changes to the book: • Online exercises for each of the book's ten chapters. These are identified at the end of each chapter by the following icon: B. Students can complete two additional practice exercises for each skill on the Townsend Press website (www.townsendpress.com). Each exercise consists of ten items, and as students respond to the items, they receive a score and explanations for each answer. In other words, the exercises teach and provide exercise, and should serve as an excellent complement to the activities and tests in each chapter of the book. • New teaching features within chapters. Three new features—study hints and tips, exercises to check your understanding, and chapter reviews—make the book even easier to use. Plus, a new format for practice and quiz questions makes grading even easier. Anyone who has been satisfied with the particularly clear format of the book will be even more satisfied with the fourth edition. • A completely revised chapter on key ideas. No skill is more important to good understanding, so much time and classroom testing was spent to develop a new approach to teaching the main ideas. The result is a chapter that shows students three specific ways to find key ideas, with exceptionally clear step-by-step instructions. This core skill will now be even more accessible to students. • New sections on reading tables and graphs and on images.

The reading of images (tables and graphs) has been added to the conclusions chapter. Students also learn to discover the meaning of similes and metaphors that are often a part of literary writing. • New introductory chapters. The introduction has been expanded to include three separate chapters. One of the added chapters will help motivate students to read regularly, the most important step in sustained reading growth; Another chapter contains some quick learning tips that every student should know. • Greater visual appeal. Additional photos and cartoons in this issue add visual appeal and also help teach key skills. Boxes, rulers, and screens highlight organizational patterns, chapter summaries, and key points. The book is more visually friendly without becoming visually cluttered. • Many new models and practice materials and four new readings. a

Of particular interest is the reading: "The True Story of Flight 93" celebrates the heroic passengers who thwarted the terrorists' plan to fly a hijacked plane to a second government building in Washington, D.C. to fly.

XII

PROLOGUE: TO THE TEACHER

Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following reviewers for many of my helpful suggestions: Glenda Bell, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville; Gwendolyne Bunch, Midlands Technical College; Donna Clack, Schoolcraft College; Kay Fell, Tarrant County University; Linda Gilmore, Carroll Community College; Belinda C. Hauenstein, Burlington County College; Nancy Joseph, Southeast Community College; Ellen Kaiden, Ramapo University; Miriam Kinard, Trident Technical College; Jerre J. Kennedy, Brevard Community College; Jackie Lumsden, Greenville Technical College; Vashti Muse, Hinds Community College; Helen Sabin, El Camino College; Eileen Suruda, Essex Community College; Maria Temerson, Richmond Community College; Jose Rafael Trevino, Laredo Community College; B. Jean Van Meter, Montgomery University; Paula Wimbish, Hinds Community College; and Leta Wium, Florida Community College in Jacksonville. In addition, Joanne Ernst of Manatee Community College provided helpful comments on the preliminary copy of this issue. And I especially appreciate the valuable comments and suggestions of Iris Hill, a reading professor at Wake Technical Community College. Her findings led to changes in the content and form of the Fourth Edition and were decisive for the new focus in the main thought chapter. At Townsend Press, I thank Eliza Comodromos, Beth Johnson, Paul Langan, Carole Mohr, and Barbara Solot for their help. And I owe a special thanks to the outstanding editor, Janet Goldstein. Due to his excellent design and editing skills, the book enjoys an even clearer and "user-friendly" format than the previous edition. Her talents also led to the creation of the Instructor's Edition, complete with answers and marginalia, to accompany the book. It is always a special pleasure to work with people who seek excellence. With the help of my colleagues in the teaching profession and at Townsend Press, I was able to create a much better book than I could have done on my own.

John Langan

INTRODUCTION

1 How to Become a Better Reader and Thinker Chances are you're not reading as well as you need to do well in school. If so, it's not surprising. You live in a culture where people watch television on average more than seven hours a day! With all the passive viewing, there isn't much time to read. Reading is a skill that needs to be actively practiced. The simple fact is that people who don't read very often are probably not great readers. • How much television do you estimate you watch on an average day? Another reason, besides watching TV, not to read a lot is that you may have a lot of responsibilities. You may attend school and work at the same time, and you may also have many family responsibilities. With a hectic schedule, you won't have much time to read. When you have free time, you are exhausted and it is easier to turn on the television than to open a book. • Do you read regularly (eg daily newspapers, weekly magazines, occasionally novels)? • When are you most likely to read? A third reason you don't read is that school may have made you associate reading with worksheets, exercises, book reports, and test scores. Experts agree that many schools have not done a good job of helping students discover the joys and rewards of reading. If reading in school was an uncomfortable experience, you may have come to the conclusion that reading in general is not for you. • Do you think school made you not like reading instead of enjoying it?

INTRODUCTION

Here are three final questions to ask yourself: • Do you think you might not need a reading class because you "already know how to read"? • If you had the choice, would you take a reading class? (Okay, to be honest.) • Think a little speed reading might be all you need? Chances are, you don't need to read as fast as you need to read smarter. And it is sure that if you do not read much, you can greatly benefit from the reading course using this book. One of the goals of the book is to help you become a better reader. You will learn and practice ten key reading comprehension skills. As a result, you can better read and understand the vast amount of material in your other college courses. The skills in this book have direct and practical value: they can help you do better, faster, and give you a head start for success in all of your college work. The book also tries to help you become a stronger thinker, a person capable of not only understanding what you read, but also analyzing and evaluating it. In fact, reading and thinking are closely related skills, and practicing reflective reading also strengthens your ability to think clearly and logically. To find out how the book will help you achieve these goals, read the next few pages and do the short exercises as well. The tasks are easy to complete and give you a quick and useful overview of the book.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK The book is divided into four main parts:

Introduction (pages 1-18) In addition to this chapter, which gives you a good overview of the book, there are two other parts of the introduction. "Reading for Joy and Power" is a personal essay describing my own experience as a reader and the ways you can develop the habit of reading. Turn to page 13 and write the first of the suggestions on the following line:

"Learn Some Quick Study Tips" shares four tips that can make you a better student. Given my 30 years of teaching experience, if I had time to say just four things to prospective college students, these are the things I would say. Turn to page 17 and in the box below write the first of these tips:

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER READER AND THINKER

Part I: Ten Steps to Improve Reading Skills in College (pages 19-414) To help you become a more effective reader and thinker, this book presents a set of ten key reading skills. They are listed in the index on pages v and vi. Go to these pages to fill in the missing skills below: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Vocabulary in context _____ _ Main implicit ideas and central point Relationships I Relationships II Conclusions Argument

Each chapter unfolds in the same way. First of all, clear explanations and examples will help you understand each skill. The drills then give you the "hands on" experience needed to learn the skill. • How many exercises are there for the second chapter, “Main Thoughts” (pages 53-94)? There are four repeat tests at the end of each chapter. The first repetition of the test serves to verify the information presented in the chapter. • What page is the first “main ideas” review quiz on? The second and third make-up tests consist of activities to help you practice the skills learned in the chapter. • What pages are 'main ideas' review tests 2 and 3 on? The fourth iteration consists of a choice of story, essay, or textbook that will encourage you to read and practice the skills learned in the chapter, as well as the skills learned in previous chapters. • What is the title of the reading selection in the Main Thoughts chapter? After each chapter there are six mastery tests that gradually increase in difficulty. • What pages are the Main Ideas chapter mastery tests on? The tests are on detachable pages, making them easy to remove and give to your teacher. There is a score box at the top of each test so you can keep track of your progress. Your score can also be entered on the "Reading Achievement Chart" on the inside front cover of the book.

INTRODUCTION

Part II: Ten Reading Samples (pages 4 1 5 - 5 1 0 ) The ten reading samples that make up Part II are followed by activities to help you practice all the skills you learned in Part I. Each sample begins with the same way. For example, look at "The Yellow Tape" which begins on page 417. What are the titles of the two sections that precede the current reading?

Note that vocabulary items in Words to Watch are followed by the paragraph numbers in which the words appear. Look at the first page of The Yellow Ribbon and explain how each word is marked in the reading itself.

Activities after each reading option

After each option, there are four types of activities to improve the reading and thinking skills you learned in Part I of the book. 1 The first activity consists of basic skills questions: questions involving vocabulary in context, main ideas (including implied main ideas and the central point), supporting details, and relationships. • See Basic Skill Questions for The Yellow Ribbon on pages 419-420. Please note that the questions are labeled so you know what skill you are practicing. How many questions are about understanding vocabulary in context? 2 The second activity consists of advanced skills questions: questions about facts and opinions, conclusions, purpose and tone, and reasoning. • Look at the advanced skills questions on pages 421^-22. How many questions deal with conclusions? 3 The third activity is to draw, map or summarize. Each of these activities will sharpen your ability to get to the heart of a text and think logically and clearly about what you are reading. • What kind of activity is planned for “The Yellow Tape” on page 403?

• What type of activity is offered for the reading titled “Urban Legends” on page 432? Keep in mind that a map or chart is a very visual way to organize your material. Like a schematic, it shows the main components of a selection at a glance.

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER READER AND THINKER

4 The fourth activity consists of discussion questions. These questions give you the opportunity to deepen your understanding of each option. • How many discussion questions are there for “Urban Legends” (page 433), or any other reading for that matter?

Part III: For Further Study (pages 511-596) This part of the book contains additional material that may help you improve your reading. 1 The first section, "Mixed Skills Tests," on pages 513-544 consists of short passages that give you practice on the ten skills in the book. • How many such tests are there in all? 2 The second section, “Propaganda,” covers techniques that your teacher may cover depending on the needs of the class. • How many types of propaganda techniques are explained? 3 The third section, "More on Arguments: Fallacies in Reasoning," explains a number of logical fallacies. • How many fallacies are covered on pages 571-582? 4 The fourth section, “Writing Tasks,” presents writing tasks for the twenty reading samples in the book. Reading and writing are closely related skills, and writing practice improves your ability to read accurately and think carefully. • How many assignments are offered for each reading?

USEFUL FEATURES OF THE BOOK 1 The book focuses on what you really need to know to become a better reader and thinker. Presents ten important comprehension skills and explains the key points of each. 2 The book gives you a lot of practice. We rarely learn a skill simply by listening or reading; through repeated practice we make it part of us. So there is a lot of activity in the text. They are not "hard work" but carefully crafted materials designed to help you really learn any skill. Please note that after learning each skill in Part I, you will proceed through quizzes and mastery tests that will allow you to use the skill. And as he moves from one skill to the next, the reading selection helps him practice and reinforce the skills he's already learned.

INTRODUCTION

3 Options throughout the book are lively and engaging. Boring and one-sided reading counteracts learning, so the topics were treated carefully.

loosen up or leave internal: eve nioi a 0 LseecLis examples of how what we read can capture our attention. For example, start with "The Yellow Tape," which is about a penitent man who has just been released from prison and wonders if his wife will let him come home, and is trying to stop reading. Or check out the textbook selection on pages 483^-92, which explores whether Lizzie Borden really was an ax murderer. Or peruse the Pre-Industrial Cities textbook selection, which despite its dull title is full of intriguing details about city life before modern food distribution and sanitation. 4 Reading includes eight selections from college textbooks. Therefore, you will practice with materials that are very similar to those in your other courses. This increases your chances of applying what you learn in your reading class to your other college courses.

USING THE BOOK 1 A good practice is to read and review the explanations and examples in a specific chapter in Part I until you feel you understand the ideas presented. Then work through the exercises carefully. Check your answers as you complete each one with the "Restricted Answer Key" beginning on page 599. For your own good, don't just copy the answers without trying the exercises! The only way to learn a skill is to practice it first and then use the feedback button to give yourself feedback. Also, take the time you need to figure out why you got some answers wrong. By using the Answer Key to learn the skills, you prepare for the review and mastery tests at the end of each chapter, as well as the other reading tests in the book. Your instructor can provide you with the answers to these tests. If you have trouble getting used to a particular skill, stick with it. Over time, you will learn each of the ten skills. 2 Read the selection first with the intention of simply enjoying it. After that, you'll have time to reread each selection and use it to build your comprehension skills. 3 Track your progress. Complete the tables at the end of each chapter in Part I and each reading in Part II. And on the 'Reading Achievement Chart' on the inside back cover, record your scores on all screening tests, mastery tests, and reading selections. These scores can give you a good idea of your overall performance as you progress through the book.

HOW TO BECOME A BETTER READER AND THINKER

In short, Ten Steps to Improve Reading Skills in College has been designed to keep you interested and benefit you as much as possible. Its format is simple, its explanations are clear, its readings are attractive and its numerous exercises will help you learn by doing. // is a book created to reward effort, and making the effort will make you a better reader and a stronger thinker. I wish you success. John Langan

2 Reading for pleasure and strength

WHY READ? I was recently at a conference where a panel of freshmen was asked, "If you could give high school students one piece of advice, what would it be?" One student responded, “I can answer that in one word: read. Read everything you can. The more you read, the better off you'll be." Heads were nodding up and down the blackboard. No one disagreed with this advice. All of these students agreed because they had learned the truth about reading: that it is at the heart of education. You've been in college long enough to realize that the habit of reading regularly is the best possible preparation for college and success in life. Here are four specific reasons why you should become a regular reader: 1 Genuine pleasure. Chances are you've read very little in your life for pleasure. Perhaps you are an inexperienced reader who has never gotten into the habit of reading regularly. Maybe you grew up in a house like mine where television dominated the home. Maybe you got off to a bad start in reading class and never seemed to catch up. Or maybe you were dying to learn to read when you started school, but got mad. If you were given uninteresting and irrelevant material to read in school, you may have decided (wrongly) that reading can't be rewarding for you. The truth is that reading can open the door to a life of pleasure and adventure. If you take the time to walk through that door, chances are you'll learn that one of life's great experiences is enjoying reading for its own sake.

READING FOR JOY AND STRENGTH

Power of 2 languages. Research has shown without a doubt that frequent reading improves vocabulary, spelling, reading speed and comprehension, grammar, and writing style. When you become a regular reader, all of these speaking and thinking skills develop almost automatically! 3 jobs. Regular reading increases your chances of professional success. In today's world, more than ever, jobs involve information processing, with words being the tools of the trade. Studies have shown that the better you know the words, the more likely you are to succeed. Nothing will give you a better command of words than regular reading. 4 Human Power. Reading expands the mind and heart. It frees us from the narrow confines of our own experience. Knowing how other people see important things helps us decide what we think and feel about ourselves. Reading also helps us connect with others and see our common humanity. Someone once wrote: "We read to know that we are not alone." We become less isolated when we share the shared experiences, emotions, and thoughts that make us human. We become more sympathetic and understanding because we realize that others are just like us.

A personal story about the value of reading As a child I read little, with one notable exception: I loved comics. In particular, I remember reading comics during my lunch hour. Since he attended an elementary school a few blocks away, he was able to walk home at lunchtime. There, I drank chocolate milk and ate my favorite sandwich: butt, mustard, and fries, sandwiched between two slices of white bread. I sat at the kitchen table with my two sisters, who were home from the same school, and my father, who was coming in for lunch from his job at a local insurance company. The four of us sat in silence because we were all reading. My sisters and I mainly read Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and Mickey Mouse comics, while my father read Reader's Digest, Life magazine, or the morning paper. Coffee cup in hand, my mother hovering nearby, always a little frustrated I guess. She was in the mood to chat, but her family was too busy reading. Even when she was in high school, she was more likely to read a comic than anything else. Every year my English teachers used to give students two books to read and report on, books like Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe and Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. I had no interest in reading such books, especially the ones I remember that seemed to have been about "old and dead things" at the time. How did I face these tasks then? I was saved by a series of comics called Classic Comics, which were illustrated stories from famous novels. Classic comics have helped me pass exams and write book reviews. They also prevented me from sitting down and reading a book, an activity I never thought could be a source of pleasure.

INTRODUCTION

What gave me joy was television. After school, I developed a routine: do homework, do chores, eat dinner, and then spend all night watching TV. Fortunately, something happened in the summer before my junior year that changed my life. The country was in the middle of a recession, so I couldn't get a job. I felt too old to spend the summer playing baseball in the backyard with my neighborhood friends, and there wasn't enough TV during the day (that was before cable) to pique my interest. Apart from mowing my aunt's lawn once a week, I had nothing to do and felt restless and empty. Then one day in early June, as I was sitting on my porch, I saw a public service message on the side of a bus rumbling loudly down the street. I remember the exact words: "Open your mind, read a book." News like this always bothered me. Basically, I never liked being told what to do. I also resented the implication that my mind was closed just because I didn't read books. I was like, "Damn, I'm going to read a book just to make sure there's nothing in there." That afternoon I went to the only bookstore in town, thumbed through and pulled out a paperback, The Swiss Family Robinson, about a family who was shipwrecked on an island and had to find a way to survive until rescue arrived. I spent a few days reading the story. When I was done, I had to admit that I enjoyed it and was proud of myself for having read an entire book. But in the perverted mood that characterized me at the age of 15, I thought to myself: "I just happened to pick the only story in the world that is really interesting. There probably isn't more." But the saner part of me wondered, "What if there were other books that wouldn't waste my time?" I remembered that upstairs in my closet there were some books that my aunt had once given me but that she had never read. I chose one that I had heard of that looked promising. It was Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and it was a hardcover so old the binding tore when I opened it. I started reading, and although Tom's activities were interesting enough, it was his girlfriend, Becky Thatcher, who soon caught my attention. My youthful heart quickened when I thought of her, and for a while I thought of her day and night. Unbelievably, for the first time in my life I had fallen in love with a book character! Becky's character helped me show the power of a book. Tom had a friend named Huck Finn, about whom Mark Twain had written another book. So when I finished Tom's story, I went to the library, got a library card, and watched The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I thought this book might tell me more about Becky. It turned out not, but by pure chance I ended up reading one of the great novels of American literature. If Becky got my blood racing, the story of Huck Finn and the trip he and his friend Jim took on a raft down the Mississippi gripped me in a different but equally compelling way. Though I couldn't express what happened

READING FOR JOY AND STRENGTH

Back then, the book made me see people in a new light. I saw a whole cast of characters who felt very human and whose stories seemed very real. Some of these characters were mean and stupid and cowardly and hateful, others were loyal and brave and dignified and loving, and some were a mixture of good and evil. When I finished Huck's story, I knew that books could be a source of pleasure, and I also felt that they could be a source of strength, that they could help me learn important things about the world and the people around me. Now he was addicted to books. By the end of the summer I had read over twenty novels and have been reading ever since.

HOW TO BECOME A REGULAR READER How, you might ask, does one become a regular reader? The key, as simple as it may seem, is to read a lot. The truth is, reading is like any other skill. The more you practice, the better you will become. In his book The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research, reading scholar Stephen Krashen examines a wealth of research and concludes that reading itself is "how we become good readers." The value of regular reading is a point on which common sense and research are in complete agreement. The following suggestions will help you make reading a part of your life. But remember, these suggestions are just words on a page. You must make the decision to become a regular reader and you must stick to that decision. Only then does reading become a source of joy and strength. • Incorporate half an hour or an hour of reading into your daily routine. This time can be during the lunch hour, or in the late afternoon before dinner, or about a half hour before lights out at night. Find a time that is convenient for you, and then make reading a habit. The result will be both recovery time and personal growth. • Subscribe to a newspaper and read the sections that interest you. Remember that it doesn't matter what you read; For example, you shouldn't feel obligated to read the editorial if the opinion columns are not of interest to you. What matters is that you read. Feel free to read whatever you want: the sports page, the fashion section, movie reviews, cover stories, even the comics. • Subscribe to one or more magazines. Browse the periodicals section of your local library or bookstore; Chances are you will find some magazines that interest you. You may want to consider a weekly news magazine like Newsweek or Time; a general interest weekly magazine like People; or any number of special interest monthly magazines such as Glamour, Sports Illustrated, Essence, or Health and Fitness.

INTRODUCTION

Subscription cards can be found in most magazines; and on many university bulletin boards you'll see rack cards offering a wide selection of magazines at discounted prices for students. • Read aloud to the children in your family, whether they are younger brothers or sisters, sons or daughters, nieces or nephews. Alternatively, schedule a family reading time when you and the children take turns reading. • Read books yourself. This is the most important step on the path to becoming a regular reader. Reading is most enjoyable when you are drawn to the special world created by a particular book. You can travel in this world for hours without worrying about everyday worries. In this timeless area you will experience the pleasure of reading. Too many people are addicted to tobacco, drugs or television; You should try to get addicted to books instead. What should you read? Choose anything that interests you. They can be comics, fantasy or science fiction, horror and mystery stories, romance novels, adventure and sports stories, biographies and autobiographies, or travel guides. To choose a book, look at a bookstore, library, or reading center. Find something you like and start reading. If you stick with it and become a regular reader, you may find that you have done nothing less than change your life.

Questions 1. Was reading a priority in the home where you grew up? If so, what was the emphasis in the reading? If not, describe what the attitude towards reading seems to be in your home. How has your family's attitude toward reading (positive or negative) affected your development as a reader? 2. As you grew up, what role did school play in encouraging or discouraging you from reading? Describe experiences in school that influenced your reading, positively or negatively. 3. What do you think parents and schools could do to make reading a source of joy for children? Suggest some specific ideas that would have worked for you as a child. 4. Of the five suggestions listed in the “Becoming a Regular Reader” section of this chapter, which one or two do you find most appealing and realistic? 5. Read one of the recommended books on the Townsend Press website. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on the line that says “A pamphlet called 40 Great Books to Read. To see them, click here”. You are then presented with a list of forty books, along with detailed descriptions of each book, so that you can choose a book that looks promising to you.

READING FOR JOY AND STRENGTH

quince

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Some Quick Study Tips While I don't intend to teach study skills in this book, I want to give you four quick tips that can make you a better student. The grades are based on my thirty years of experience working with freshmen and teaching reading and study skills to college students. Tip 1 The most important steps you can take to be successful in school is to attend all classes and take lots of notes. If you're cutting class or just sitting around not taking notes, chances are you're getting yourself into a lot of trouble. Tip 2 Let me ask you a question: what is more important: learning to read a textbook or learning to read your teacher? Write your answer here:

You may be surprised by the answer: it is much more important to learn to read your teacher, to understand what is expected of you in the course, and to know it for exams. I remember that I didn't become a good student in college until I learned the truth of that statement. And I have interviewed hundreds of students today who have said the same thing. Let me quote one of them: you absolutely must be in class. Then learn to read the teacher and know what he or she will want on tests. You could read an entire textbook, but that wouldn't be as good as being in class and writing down a teacher's understanding of ideas. ^& Tip 3 Many teachers base their tests primarily on the ideas they present in class. But if you need to learn a chapter from a textbook, here's how to do it. Read the first and last paragraph of the chapter first; They can give you a good overview of what the chapter is about. Second, as you read the chapter, find and mark definitions of key terms and examples of those definitions. 17

INTRODUCTION

Third, as you read the chapter, number all the lists of items; if there are series

of points and the numbers 1, 2, 3 etc., it will be easier to understand and remember them. Fourth, after reading the chapter, take notes on the main points and test yourself on these notes until you can say them to yourself without looking at them. ^^ Tip 4 One more question: Are you an organized person? Do you get up on time, get to places on time, do your homework, take time to study for exams and do homework? If you are not an organized person, you will have problems in school. Here are three steps to take to control your time: First, pay close attention to the course outline or syllabus—your instructors will probably swoon at the start of a semester. Most likely, the syllabus will tell you the dates of the exams and the due date of the assignments or reports. Second, it moves all of this data onto a big monthly calendar, a calendar that has a big white block for each date. Hang the calendar somewhere you're sure you'll see it every day, perhaps above your desk or on a bedroom wall. Third, buy a small notebook and write a to-do list each day of things that need to be done that day. Decide which elements are the most important and focus on them first. (If you have classes that day, attending those classes is an "A" priority.) Carry your list with you throughout the day, referring to it from time to time, and check off items as you complete them.

Questions 1. Which of the four points listed above is the most important to you? Why? 2. Which track is the second most important to you and why? 3. A graph later in this book shows how quickly we forget new material. How much class do you think most people forget in just two weeks? Mark ( / ) the answer that you think is correct. 20 percent will be forgotten in two weeks 40 percent will be forgotten in two weeks 60 percent will be forgotten in two weeks 80 percent will be forgotten in two weeks The truth is, most people forget almost 80% of this in two weeks what you heard! Given this fact, what should you absolutely do in all of your classes?

Parti TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Vocabulary in Context If you are asked to define the words ambivalent, definite, and incessant, you may have some difficulty. On the other hand, if you've seen these words in sentences, you might find definitions quite accurate. For example, see if you can define the italicized words in the three sentences below. Then, using a capital letter, write the letter of your choice on the answer line. Do not use a dictionary for this job. Instead, try the word you think is the answer in each sentence. For example, substitute mixed or critical or affirmative in the sentence for ambivalent to see what makes more sense. Many of us have ambivalent feelings (am-biv'a-lant) about our politicians, admiring them but also distrusting them. Ambivalent means A. mixed.

B. Critical.

C. authorization.

The officer tried to find out the truth (as'ar-tan) about the accident by questioning each witness individually. Determine means A. create.

to avoid

C. averigua

I prefer the occasional interruption of deafening thunder to the incessant dripping (m-ses'ant) from the kitchen sink. Incessantly A. means harmless.

B. exciting.

C. uninterrupted.

In each sentence above, the context, the words that surround the unknown word, provide clues to the meaning of the word. You may have guessed from the context that ambivalent means "mixed," "notice" means "decipher," and "continuous" means "continuous." twenty-one

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Using context clues to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words will help you in several ways: • Save reading time. You don't have to stop to look up words in the dictionary. (Of course, you won't always be able to understand a word from its context, so keep a dictionary handy when you read.) • After you have figured out the meaning of the same word more than once through its context, it may become part of your working vocabulary. Thus, you will expand your vocabulary just by reading carefully. • You get a good idea of how a word is actually used, including any nuances of meaning it may have.

TYPES OF CONTENT NOTES There are four common types of contextual clues: 1 Examples 2 Synonyms 3 Antonyms 4 General meaning of the sentence or phrase In the following sections, you will read about each type and practice using it. The exercises will sharpen your abilities to recognize and use context clues. They will also help you add new words to your vocabulary. Remember not to use a dictionary for these exercises. Its purpose is to help you develop the ability to figure out what words mean without using a dictionary. The pronunciations are in parentheses for the words, and a short pronunciation guide is on pages 597-598.

Examples Examples can indicate the meaning of an unknown word. To understand how this type of hint works, read the following sentences. An italicized word in each sentence is followed by examples that provide context clues for that word. These bold examples will help you understand the meaning of each word. On the answer line, write the letter of each meaning that you think is correct. Note that the examples are often presented with signal words and phrases, such as include and how.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

1. Nocturnal creatures like bats and owls have highly developed senses that allow them to function in the dark. Nocturnal (nok-tur'nsl) means A. feathered. B live.

C. active at night.

2. Side effects of this drug, including dizziness, nausea, and headaches, have led to its withdrawal from the market. Inauspicious (ad-vurs') A. means deadly. B. harmful.

C. dear.

3. Examples of common euphemisms are "final resting place" (for grave), "intoxicated" (for drunk), and "toilet" (for toilet). Euphemisms (yoo'fa-miz'smz) mean A. awkward B. responses. reactions

C. Substitute for offensive terms.

The examples of nocturnal creatures given in the first sentence (bats and owls) may have helped you guess that nocturnal creatures are those that are "active at night" since bats and owls come out at night. The unpleasant side effects mentioned in the second sentence are indications of the meaning of adverse, ie "harmful". Finally, as the examples in sentence three show, euphemisms mean "substitute for offensive terms." y^ Exercise 1: Examples For each item below, underline the examples that indicate the meaning of the italicized term. Then write the letter of the meaning of that term on the answer line. Please note that the last five sentences are taken from college textbooks. 1. Even presidents have to engage in such mundane activities as brushing their teeth and washing their hands and face. Mundan (mund-dan') means A. pleasant. B. Ordinary.

C. dear.

Hint: For this and all the exercises in this chapter, put the word in the sentence that you think is the answer. For example, in the sentence, substitute pleasant, common, or expensive for mundane to see what fits.

2. Today was a turbulent work day. Phones were constantly ringing, people were running around, various offices were painted. Agitation (tur'moil') means A. Discussion. B. Confusion.

C. Harmony.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

3. Some animals have remarkable longevity. For example, the giant tortoise can live several hundred years. Longevity (16n-jev'i-te) means A. appearances. B. For life.

C. Habits

4. Before the invention of television, people spent more time on distractions like going to concerts and ball games in the city, visiting friends in the neighborhood, and playing board games. Distractions (di-vur'zhanz) means A. Pleasures. B. Differences.

C. Housework.

5. Since my grandfather retired, he has developed several new occupations. Today, for example, he enjoys gardening and long-distance biking. Sideline (av'o-ka'shsnz) means A. Hobbies. B. Vacation.

C. Jobs.

6. Children who move to a foreign country adjust much more easily than their parents and soon learn the language and customs of their new homeland. Adapt (s-dapt') means A. adapt. B fight.

C. get bored

7. The Chinese government offers incentives for married couples to have only one child. Couples with a child, for example, receive financial assistance and free medical care. Incentives (in-sen'tivz) means A. Warnings. B. Penalties.

C. Stimulus.

8. Changes in abilities such as learning, reasoning, thinking, and language are aspects of cognitive development. Cognitive (kog'ni-tiv) means A. bodily. B. mentally.

C. spiritual.

9. Some people with mental illnesses have strange ideas. For example, they may think that the television is speaking to them or that others may steal their thoughts. Strange (bi-zarF) means A. limited. B. Ordinary.

C. strange.

10. White collar crimes, for example, taking a bribe from a client or stealing from an employer, are more expensive than "regular" crimes. White collar crime (hwit-kol'sr krim) refers to a crime committed by A. gang members. B. Strangers. C. People in the workplace.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Synonyms A context clue is often available in the form of a synonym: a word that means the same or nearly the same as the unknown word. A synonym can appear anywhere in a passage to provide the same meaning as the unknown word. In each of the following points the word to be defined is printed in italics. Underline the synonym of the word in italics in each sentence. 1. Fresh garlic (en-hans) may not improve breath, but it certainly improves spaghetti sauce. 2. As soon as I made a flippant comment to my boss, I regretted sounding disrespectful. 3. Although the saleswoman tried to 3-swaj' the angry customer, there was no way to calm her down. In each sentence, the synonym provided should have helped you understand the meaning of the italicized word: • Improve means improve. • Flippant means "disrespectful." • Alleviate means to calm down.

>^ Exercise 2: Synonyms Each item below contains a word that is a synonym of the word in italics. Write the synonym of the italicized word in the space provided. Please note that the last five sentences are taken from college textbooks. 1. Talking in front of a group annoys (dis 'ksn-surtz') Alan. Even answering a question in class is embarrassing for him. Hint: How does Alan react when he has to speak in public?

2. Since my friends had advised me to skroot'n-iz' the lease, I took the time to review the fine print. 3. The presidential candidate promised to discuss pragmatic solutions (prag-mat'ik). He said the American people want practical answers, not empty theories. 4. I asked the teacher to explain a confusing passage from the textbook. She said, "I wish I could, but it's not clear to me either (6b-skydbr')."

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

5. Teachers can overlook when a student is two minutes late. But they won't tolerate (kand5n') someone being half an hour late for class. 6. When people are broke, they find that many things that seem indispensable (in'di-spen'sa-bal) are actually not so necessary. 7. Managers must be careful to make adversaries (ad'var-ser'ez) work together; Opponents often don't cooperate well. 8. Just as the introduction of mechanical devices meant fewer farm jobs, the advent of the computer has led to fewer manufacturing jobs. 9. Many corporations want to be seen as benevolent (banev'a-lsnt) and actively seek publicity for their charitable donations. 10. Throughout history, the dominant pattern (prev'a-bnt) of authority in families has been patriarchy, in which men are in control. In only a few societies was matriarchy the usual pattern of authority.

Antonyms An antonym, a word that means the opposite of another word, is also a useful context clue. Antonyms are often denoted by words and phrases such as but, but, on the other hand, and in contrast. At the end of each sentence, underline the word that means the opposite of the italicized word. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. 1. Many people have pointed out the harmful effects that a working mother can have on the family, but there are many beneficial effects as well. Sano (sal'ys-ter'e) means A. known. B. beneficial.

C. hurtful.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

2. Trying to control everything your teens do can stunt their growth. To promote their development, let them make some decisions for themselves. To prevent (im-ped') means A. to block. B predict c improve 3. During their training, police officers must respond to simulated emergencies in order to be prepared to deal with real emergencies. Simulated (sim'ya-la'tid) means A. invented. B. Mild.

C actually.

In the first sentence, healthy effects are the opposite of "bad effects," so healthy means "beneficial." In the second sentence, prevent is the opposite of "advance", so prevent means "block". After all, the opposite of "real" is "simulated"; invented simulated media. >^ Exercise 3: Antonyms Each item below contains a word that is an antonym of the italicized word. Underline the antonym of each word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. Please note that the last five sentences are taken from college textbooks. 1. Many politicians do not give concise answers. They prefer long ones that help them avoid the point. Tip: If politicians prefer to give long answers, what answers don't they usually give?

Succinct (sak-sfngkt') A. means brief. B exactly.

C completed.

2. Although investing in the stock market can be lucrative, it can also lead to huge financial losses. Profitable (loo'krs-tiv) means A. required. B. Financially rewarding.

C. risky.

3. "I saw students secretly reviewing answer sheets during exams," said the professor. "However, to this day I have never seen anyone openly putting a cheat sheet on their desk." Secretly (sur'ap-fish'as-le) A. means legal. B secretly.

C. noisy.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

4. While Melba's apartment is simply furnished, her clothes are extravagant. Fancy (flam-boi'snt) means A. economical. B. conspicuous.

C. washable.

5. To stay healthy, seniors need to stay active. The remaining stagnation leads to the loss of strength and health. Stagnant (stag'nsnt) means A. inactive. B. lively.

C. unsanitary.

6. When communicating formally, be careful to avoid ambiguous language. Clear language avoids confusion. Ambiguous (am-big'yoo-as) A means wordy. B. ineffective.

C. unclear.

7. Growing up with conflicting values can be detrimental to boy-girl relationships. Instead, shared values can be an advantage. Disadvantage (deVra-mant) means A. Improvement. B. damage.

C. Relationship.

8. While houses and antiques often go up in value, most things like cars and televisions go down in value. Depreciate (di-prefshe-at') means that A. is still useful. B. lose value.

C rest.

9. Reliable scientific theories are not based on sloppy work, but on careful research and experimentation. Meticulous (mi-tik'ya-las) A. means hastily. B expensive

c careful

10. In the early days of the automobile industry, strict laws controlled the speed of motorists. By contrast, the laws that protected consumers from defective products were extremely weak. Strict (strm'jant) means A. informal. B. not cash.

C. strictly.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

General meaning of the sentence or passage Sometimes it takes a little more detective work to unravel the meaning of an unknown word. In such cases, you should draw conclusions based on the information provided with the word. If you ask yourself questions about the passage, you can fairly accurately guess the meaning of the unknown word. Each of the following sentences is followed by a question. Think about each question; Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the answer that you think is the correct meaning of the italicized word. 1. A former employee, angry at being fired, broke into the factory and intentionally destroyed several machines. (What would be the employee's mood?)

Angry (I-ratf) means A. relieved.

B. Very angry.

C. undecided.

2. Despite the proximity of Ron's house to his sister's, he rarely sees her. (Would it be surprising about Ron's house that he doesn't see his sister more often?

Proximity (prok-sim'i-te) means A. Resemblance. B. Proximity.

C. Superiority.

3. The car wash we organized to raise funds was a fiasco: it rained all day. (How successful would a car wash be on a rainy day?)

Fiasco (fe-as'ko) means A. big financier B. welcome surprise. Success.

C. total disaster,

The first sentence provides enough evidence to guess that angry means "very angry." Nahe in the second sentence means "close". And a fiasco is a "complete disaster." (You may not find the exact definition of a word in the dictionary when using context clues, but it will often be accurate enough to make sense of what you read.)

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Exercise 4: General meaning of the sentence or paragraph Try to answer the question that follows each of the following points. Then use the logic of each answer to help you write the letter with the meaning that you think is correct. Please note that the last five sentences are taken from college textbooks. 1. The lizard was so lethargic that he wasn't sure if it was dead or alive. He didn't even blink. (Would an animal that appears dead be green, inactive, or large?)

Lethargic (la-thar'jik) A. means green. B. Inactive.

C. large.

2. Jamal didn't want to tell Tina the whole plot of the movie, so he just told her the gist of the story. (What information would Jamal have given Tina?)

Gist (Jist) significa A. fin.

B. Title.

C. Idea principal.

3. After the accident, I was upset when the other driver told the police officer a complete fabrication of what happened. He claimed that I was the culprit. (How accurate was the information provided by the other driver?)

Manufacture (fab'ri-ka'shsn) means A. lie. B. Description.

C. Confession.

4. The public knows very little about the covert activities of CIA spies. (What kinds of activities would CIA spies be involved in that the public doesn't know much about?)

Covert (kiiv'art or kov'srt or ko-vurtr) A. means public. secret b. Family C. 5. Whether or not there is life in space is a mystery. We may never know for sure until we can travel into space or until aliens land on our planet. (What would we call something for which we don't have an answer?)

Riddle (i-nig'ma) means A. Reason. B. Certainty.

C Secret.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

6. Suicide rates tend to fluctuate with the seasons, with rates being much higher in winter than in summer. (What happens to the suicide rate from season to season?)

To sway (fluk'choo-at') means A. to go up and down. B disappear.

C. stay the same

7. Humans are resilient beings: they can often recover from negative experiences and adapt well to life. (What is the author's point about human nature?)

Resilient (ri-zil'ysnt) means A. not flexible. B live.

C. Capable of recovering.

8. A great achievement of sociology is to dispel the myths and prejudices that groups of people have about each other. (What would a profession with "myths and prejudices" do that could be called a "great achievement"?)

Dispel (di-spel'ing) means A. Ignore. B. make it go away.

C. Create new.

9. Ten years of research culminated in a report that explains the mysterious behavior of the praying mantis, a large green or brown insect. (How would the report relate to the investigation?)

Finished (kul'ma-nat'id) means A. failed. started b.

C. closed.

10. Despite complaints from parents, educators, and government officials, violence and sex on television seem to continue unabated. (Despite the complaints, is something wrong?)

Without brakes (un's-ba'tid) means A. slower. B. without stopping.

C. with great effort.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

An important point about textbook definitions You don't always have to use context clues or the dictionary to find definitions. Quite often, textbook authors define important terms. Also, authors often follow a definition with one or more examples to make sure you understand the new term. For example, here is a short passage from a textbook that includes a definition and an example: “People don't always get their needs met directly; sometimes they use a substitute object. 2Using a surrogate is called displacement. 3This is the process that takes place, for example, when you control your impulse to yell at your boss and then go home and yell at the first member of your family unlucky enough to cross your path. Therefore, textbook authors often do more than just provide contextual hints: they define a word, italicize or bold it, and provide examples as well. If you take the time to define and illustrate a word, you should assume that the term is important enough to learn. For more definitions and textbook examples, see pages 213-214 in chapter "Relations II."

CHAPTER REVIEW In this chapter you learned the following: • To save time reading, try to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words. You can do this by looking at their context: the words that surround them. • There are four types of context clues: Examples (indicated by words like, eg, including, and how); synonyms (words that mean the same as unknown words); antonyms (words that mean the opposite of unknown words); and the general sense of the sentence (suggestions in the sentence or in the sentences that surround it about the meaning of the words). • Textbook authors often italicize or bold important words and define those words for you, often with examples. The next chapter, Chapter 2, will introduce you to the most important of all comprehension skills and find the main idea.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

• ^

On the Internet: When you use this book in class, you can visit our website to get more practice understanding vocabulary in context. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on online tutorials.

Review Quiz 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, answer the following questions by filling in the blanks or writing the letter of the correct answer. 1. A reader can often figure out the meaning of a new word without using a dictionary by paying attention to the meaning of the word.

2. What type of context clue is used for the italicized word in the following sentence? A. Example

B. synonym

C. antonym

You cannot take certain courses unless you have completed a prerequisite (pre-rek'wi-zit); For example, you cannot take Spanish Literature I unless you have taken Spanish III. 3. What type of context clue is used for the italicized word in the following sentence? A. Example

B. synonym

C. antonym

At the foot of the mountain there are dense pine forests, but higher up the trees become sparse (Holm). 4. What type of context clue is used for the italicized word in the following sentences? A. Example

B. synonym

C. antonym

It can take years for talent to surface. When Beethoven was a small boy, his teachers had not noticed his great musical talent (ap'ti-tobd') of him. 5. When textbook authors introduce a new word, they often write and follow it to clarify the meaning of the word.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

repeat test 2

A. Use context clues to help you and write the letter with the best meaning for each italicized word on the answer line. 1. Nepotism (nep's-tiz'sm) is the order of the day where I work: the boss's daughter is the vice president of the company, her husband heads the order department and her son has just started working in the store. A. Good management practice C. Disputes between employees B. Favoring relatives D. Confusion among management 2. Since the teacher's explanation was neb'ya-tas, several students asked him to clarify. A. vague C. intriguing B. boring D. concise 3. The bank robber was apparently nondescript: none of the witnesses could think of any particular identifying characteristics. A. poorly camouflaged C. memorable B. featureless D. cruel 4. The lake water was so cloudy (mflr'ke) that my hand seemed to disappear when I dipped it a few inches below the surface. A. cold c. dark B. dangerous D. cozy 5. During the Revolutionary War, the English paid German mercenaries (mur'sa-ner'ez) to help fight the Americans. A. contract soldiers c. Rebels B. Traitors D. Newcomers B. Use context clues to help you and write the definition of each word in italics. Then write the letter of the definition in the space provided. Choose from the definitions in the box below. Each definition is used once. A. happily done D. available

B. dudoso E. fastidioso

C. discouraged

6. I wouldn't just be happy if I won the lottery; He would be delighted. Ecstatic (ek-stat'lk) means 7. Nature endowed hummingbirds with the ability to fly backwards. Talented (en-doud') means

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

8. Opponents of the death penalty say it has never stopped anyone from committing murder. Deterred (di-turd') means

9. Around the age of two or three, young children like to pester their parents with endless questions that begin with the word "why." Badger (baj'ar) means

10. Although four-year-old Mattie claimed she stayed up until midnight on New Year's Eve, her parents doubted she could stay up that late. doubtful

(period

be like)

medium

^- Repeat Quiz 3 A. Use context clues to find the meaning of the italicized word in each of the following sentences and write its definition in the space provided. 1. Although working full-time in conjunction with school is often not feasible, it can be practical to hold down a part-time job. Feasible (fe'za-bal) means 2. It's surprising that my neighbors always seem spotless, even though their apartment is usually pretty dirty. Impeccable (i-mak'ya-lit) means

3. It is illegal to ask people to reveal their age during job interviews. Reveal (di-vulj') means

4. Doctors must relieve the pain of terminally ill patients so that their last days are as comfortable as possible. To relieve (s-le've-at') means

5. When rain and sunlight occur at the same time, the rain is often called a sun shower. Simultaneously (si'mal-ta'ne-as) means

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

B. Use context clues to find the meaning of the italicized words in the following textbook passages. Write your definitions in the spaces provided. "Although mystery and science fiction may seem like very different kinds of writing, the two forms have some fundamental similarities. 2 First, both are action-oriented, emphasizing action at the expense of character development. 3 Perhaps for this reason, both types of literature have been dismissed by critics as mere “entertainment” rather than “literature.”4 But this attack is unwarranted, since both mystery and science fiction deal with moral issues.5Science fiction often raises the issue whether or not scientific advances benefit humanity. 6 And a mystery story rarely ends without the guilty person being brought to justice. 6. Despised (skornd) means

7. Guilty (kul'pa-bal) means

“Why did people start living in cities? 2To answer this question we must begin by looking back some ten thousand years. 3In certain parts of the world (probably where the natural food supply was unreliable) people strove to tame nature for their own purposes. 4They began pulling weeds and watering clumps of edible plants, adding organic matter to fertilize the soil, and saving the seeds of the strongest and most desirable plants for planting the next spring. 5 At the same time, they began to protect herds of small wild animals that were often hunted by larger animals. 6In the dry summer months they were led to more fertile pastures. 7During the harsher winter seasons, they supplemented any available fresh food with food from the store. 8These changes, along with some simple grain and meat storage techniques, allowed people to abandon an itinerant lifestyle in favor of settling in small villages. 9These villages were the basic form of human social organization for the next millennia. 8. Efforts (en-dev'sr) means

9. Supplement (sup'b-mant) means

10. Docked Media (Docking Help)

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Repeat Test 4 Here is an opportunity to apply the ability to understand vocabulary in context to a complete selection. Read the following story, a version of which appeared in Reader's Digest, and then answer the following questions. Words to Watch Out For Below are some words from the reading that do not have strong contextual support. Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). Spotted (2): Spotted with streaks or spots. Regions (3): Maneuvers in a rural region (3): Military exercises

Night's Watch Roy Popkin 1

The story began on a street corner in downtown Brooklyn. An elderly man had collapsed across the street and was taken by ambulance to Kings County Hospital. There the man continued to call his son during his few recoveries of consciousness. From a much-read, stained letter, an ER nurse learned the son was a Marine stationed in North Carolina. There were apparently no other relatives. Someone at the hospital called the Brooklyn Red Cross office, and a request for the boy to be rushed to Brooklyn was sent to the Red Cross director of the North Carolina Marine Corps camp. As time was pressing - the patient was dying - the Red Cross man and an officer set off in a jeep. They tracked down the wanted youth wading through swampy provinces on maneuvers. They got him to the airport in time to catch the only plane that would allow him to reach his dying father.

It was night when the young Marine entered the lobby of Kings County Hospital. A nurse carried the tired and frightened soldier to the sickbed. "Your son is here," he told the old man. He had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated from the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young man in the Marine Corps uniform standing in front of the oxygen tent. He reached out his hand. The marine wrapped his hardened fingers around the old man's limp fingers and squeezed out a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair for the Marine to sit next to the bed. Nights in hospitals are long, but the young Marine sat in the dimly lit ward all night, holding the old man's hand and expressing hope and strength. From time to time, the nurse would suggest that the Marine go away and rest for a while. He said no.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Every time the nurse came in

Station) of the Navy HE WAS there, all his attention on the dying man and oblivious to her and the nightly noises of the hospital: the rattle of an oxygen tank, the laughter of the night attendants exchanging greetings, the screams and moans and snores from other patients. He occasionally heard him say some soft words. The dying man said nothing, just clung to his son for most of the night. 8 Towards the morning the patient died. The marine placed the lifeless hand he had been holding onto the bed and went to tell the nurse. As she did what she had to do, he relaxed for the first time since he was in the hospital. 9 Finally she returned to the nurses' station, where he was waiting for her. She wanted to offer her condolences on the loss of her, but the Navy cut her off. "Who was this man?" she asked. 10 "He was your father," she replied, startled. 11 “No, he wasn't,” replied the sailor.

"I've never seen him in my life." "Why didn't you say anything?

when I brought you with him'?” the nurse asked. “I knew right away that I had made a mistake, but I also knew that I needed his son, and his son just wasn't there. When I realized that he was too sick to know if I was his child or not, I thought that he really needed me. So I stayed." With that, the Marine turned around and 14 walked out of the hospital. Two days later, a routine message arrived from the North Carolina Marine Corps base, informing the Brooklyn Red Cross that the real son was on his way to Brooklyn for his father's funeral. It turned out that there were two Marines in the camp with the same name and similar serial numbers. Someone in Human Resources had pulled the wrong file. But the wrong Marine had become the right son at the right time. And he demonstrated in a uniquely human way that there are people who don't care what happens to those around them.

Vocabulary Questions Use context clues to find the best definition for each word in italics. Then write the letter of each option on the answer line. 1. In the following sentence, the word re Had means A. hidden. C. made a gift. B. passed away. D ignored. "Someone at the hospital phoned the Brooklyn Red Cross office, and a request for the boy to be rushed to Brooklyn was sent to the director of the North Carolina Marine Corps Camp Red Cross." . (Paragraph 3) 2. In the following sentence, the words enable it (e-na'bsl he) mean A. stop it. C. I know him. B. Encourage him. D. enable it. "They took him to the airport in time to catch the only plane that could allow him to reach his dying father" (paragraph 3).

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

3. In the following excerpt, the word sedated (si-datrid) means A. pronounced aloud. C. armed. B. wide awake. D. Anesthetized with an analgesic. "'Your son is here,' he told the old man. He had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated by the pain of his heart attack, he vaguely saw the young man…” (paragraph 5) 4 In the following excerpt, the word dim'le means A. different. C. strange. B. unclear. D. often. "He had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened. Heavily sedated due to the pain of his heart attack, he vaguely saw the young man…" (paragraph 5) 5. In the following sentence the word limp (flabby) means a) lacking firmness and strength, c. long. B. same hard. D. Bleeding "The Marine wrapped his hardened fingers around the limp fingers of the old man and expressed a message of love and encouragement."(paragraph 5) 6. A clue to the meaning of limp in the above sentence is the antonym A. hardy C. Message. Bold. I would love to. 7. In the following excerpt, the word forget (s-bliv'e-as) means A. aware. C. Not aware nte. B. disturbed. d informed. "Every time the nurse entered the room, the marine was there. All his attention was focused on the dying, and he did not notice her or the night noises from the hospital..." (paragraph 7) 8 In the excerpt below, the word means condolences (kan-do'bns) A. I'm sorry. C. Surprise. B. Bitterness. D. Sympathy. "She began to express condolences to her on the loss of her..." (paragraph 9) 9. In the excerpt below, the word startled (star'tld) means A. very pleased. C. furious. B. With admiration. D surprised. "'Who was this man?' he asked. 'He was your father,' she replied, startled. (paragraphs 9-10)

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

10. In the following sentence, the words exclusively human (yoo-nek'le hyoo'man) mean A. impossible for humans. B. terrifying to humans.

C. Performed solely by humans. D. suddenly by human standards.

"And it showed in a uniquely human way that there are people who care about what happens to those around them." (paragraph 15)

Discussion Questions 1. When do you think the Navy realized it was a mistake to call you to the hospital? Was it when she first saw the old man or before? What parts of the reading support your conclusion? 2. How do you think the real son of the dead man felt about the other Marine being with his dying father? How would you feel? 3. The reading incident occurred due to some amazing coincidences. What were you? Has there been any surprising or interesting coincidence in his life? If so, what was it and how did it affect you? 4. By getting out of the way of a stranger, the Marine "showed in a uniquely humane way that there are people who care about what happens to others." Have you ever bothered to help a stranger? Or did you see someone there? Tell how the situation was and what happened. Note: To write tasks for this selection, see page 585.

See your performance activity

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT Correct number

Points

score

(5 item)

Verification Test 2 (10 items)

Verification Test 3 (10 items)

Repeat test 4 (10 items)

TOTAL SCORE

repeat test 1

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

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VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT: Mastery Test 1 A. For each of the following items, underline the example that suggests the meaning of the word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of that word. 1. When I finally get around to cleaning up something gross (possibly) behind a stinky bean. A. tempting c. B. recently D.

I always find shelves, like moldy fruit or old wrong ones, disgusting from my fridge

2. The Easter egg hunt had cryptic clues (krip'tik) like "You'll find a prize somewhere narrow" and "Look for the pink." A. rhyme c. clear B. confusing D. overused 3. Detailed letters (var'bos) can be difficult to understand. For example, 'We are in dire need of more and more funding right now' is less clear than 'We need money now'. A. realistic c. wordy B. informal D. ungrammatical B. Each of the following items contains a word or words that are synonymous with the word in italics. Write the synonym of the italicized word in the space provided. 4. "I try every ride at this amusement park except the Twister," said Nick. "I dare (ven'chsr) gorge myself, but I will not risk my life." 5. Americans spend millions every year looking for (kwest) the perfect weight loss plan. They look for a pill or diet that allows them to eat a lot and exercise little. 6. Samuel Langhorne Clemens was not the first author to use the pen name (sodd'n-im') of Mark Twain. A journalist at the time used the same false name.

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C. Each of the following items contains a word or words that are antonyms of the italicized word. Underline the antonym of each word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. 7. Computer manuals are often very difficult to understand, so I was surprised to find out how loo'sid this is. A. long c. clear B. expensive D. new 8. When my sister got her job at the recording studio, she really wanted to go to work every day. Now, after ten years, she is fed up (bla-za') with her job and wants to change jobs. A. late c. excited B. bored D. curious D. Use common sense in each sentence to find the meaning of each word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. 9. A person can be very intelligent and yet be di-fish'ant. A. missing c. overqualified B. well cared for D. happy 10. The store detective faced a dilemma (di-lem'a) of having an elderly needy arrested or ignoring the store's rules on thieves. A. Memory c. Exhibit B. Hard choice D. Reason

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Vocabulary in Context: Mastery Test 2 A. For each item below, underline the examples that indicate the meaning of the italicized word. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of that word. 1. All habitats (hab'i-tat') in the world, from volcanic peaks to icebergs, can support some type of life. A. Country c. Food source B. Environment D. Practice 2. Common redundant phrases (ri-dundant) include "cooperate together" (instead of just "cooperate") and "postponed until later" (instead of "postponed"). A. repeatedly c. Difficult B. Descriptive D. Helpful B. Each textbook item below contains a word that is a synonym for the word in italics. Write the synonym of the italicized word in the space provided. 3. The Amish prefer a strict style (6 revolutions): their dress and their home are simple. 4. Airport security personnel must observe people's behavior (di-me'nar) to detect suspicious behavior. 5. In business, being unpleasant can be harmful. For example, if you are too modest about your accomplishments, you may be passed over for a promotion. C. Each textbook entry below contains a word that is an antonym of the italicized word. Underline the antonym of each word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. 6. Even when textbooks are standardized (standard-dizd) in a school system, the teaching methods that use them can vary widely. A. different c. did the same B. expensive D. absent 7. During the Middle Ages, everyone, from the rich landowner to the impoverished peasant (rm-pov'ar-isht), had a clear place in society. A. weak c. poor B. ordinary D. decent (continued on next page) 43

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D. Use the general sense of each sentence to find the meaning of each word in italics. Then, on the answer line, write the letter of the meaning of the word in italics. 8. The United States has often been assimilated like many different cultures A. learn B. leave

"Crucible" into which the people of (a-sim'a-lat') enter. C. avoid each other D. dazzle

9. It is strange how often public figures who express "traditional family values" (i-spouz) later find themselves embroiled in a scandal that affects their own personal lives. A. recognize c. reject B reminds D. defends 10. It is generally believed that Columbus sailed west to confirm (val'i-dat') the theory that the world is round. In fact, it was already known then that the world is round. A. think c. contradict B. prove D. foresee

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VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT: Mastery Test 3 Using context clues as a guide, write in the space provided the letter with the best meaning for each italicized word. 1. It is a good idea for married couples to discuss their plans in case the other dies (d-miz f). For example, do they want to be buried or cremated? A. Death c. Desire for divorce B. Success D. Concern 2. The press attacked (a-sald') the mayor for awarding construction contracts in a large city to his brother-in-law's company. A. searched c. attacked B. paid D. fined 3. A tenet of Islam is that its followers should not drink alcohol. A. Answer c. Lesson B. Prediction D. Guarantee 4. Babies are naturally curious (in-kwiz'i-tiv). Because they are so curious about their surroundings, they want to explore everything. A. unreliable c. curious B. clumsy D. tired 5. After X-rays were discovered in 1895, there were some absurd reactions (pn-post'tar-as). For example, merchants in London sold radiopaque underwear. A. logical c. dangerous B. ridiculous D. retarded 6. The foolish defendant waived (wavd) his right to counsel and instead spoke for himself in court. A. depended on c. wrote B. greeted D. surrendered 7. Sexual norms in England during the 19th century were so strict that it was considered sor'did for women to show their legs in public. A. correct c. popular B. impossible D. indecent (continued on next page) 45

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8. Young children believe their parents are perfect until they reach their teens, when their parents suddenly become quite fallible (fal's-bal). A. unhealthy c. imperfect B. dangerous D. skillful 9. At Gerry's company, employees laid off during a brief downturn (ri-sesh'an) are often reinstated when there is a boom in business. A. Recession c. Vacation B. Bankruptcy D. War 10. Englishman John Merrick's illness gave him such a grotesque appearance (gro-tesk') that he was nicknamed "The Elephant Man." Despite people's reactions to his misshapen head and body, Merrick remained loving and gentle. A. strong c. gray B. deformed D. infantile

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VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT: Mastery Test 4 Using context clues as a guide, write in the space provided the letter with the best meaning for each italicized word or words. Please note that all phrases are taken from college textbooks. 1. After the Civil War, streetcars and streetcars greatly expanded the mobility of workers (mo-bil'i-te), allowing them to commute from factories on foot. A. pay c. Ability to move B. Skills D. Interests 2. What people say may not accurately reflect what they really feel. Sometimes it is necessary to resort to clues (also rf-zort') other than their spoken words to fully understand them. Eliminate A. from C. use B. reduced. Ignore 3. Individual political organizations often form coalitions (ko'a-hsh'snz) to increase support for their causes. A. Associations c. Quizzes B. Lines D. Questions 4. Surveys on people's sexual habits are often inaccurate because people can lie and there is no way to check what they say (ka-rob'a-rat'). A. forget c. change B. prove the truth of D. remember 5. Everyone at the party was shocked at how openly (blat'nt-le) the woman insulted her former boss. She refused to shake his hand, saying, "I don't want to get my hand dirty." A. secretly c. hardly B. accidental D. obvious 6. In accordance with the English principle that voters had to have a 'stak' in the community, colonies generally required citizens to own a certain minimum amount of land in order to vote. A. Profession c. Investment B. Family D. Employee

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7. William Henry Harrison's campaign in 1840 brought many innovations (m'a-va'shanz) to the art of campaigning. This is the first time that a presidential candidate has spoken on his own behalf. A. new things c. delinquency B. People D. Financial capacity 8. To fully assess (a-seV) patients and place them in appropriate programs, mental health professionals need information about emotional adjustment and physical health. a.find c. hide B. recognize D. evaluate 9. In the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, a person will overeat and then attempt to undo the outrageous intake of food through intentional vomiting or strict dieting (nul'a-fT). a.increase c. forget B. undo D. delay 10. Adults with children of their own and elderly parents must balance their commitments. They have to take care of their children and also (al r 9-kat') spend time and energy to take care of their parents. a. remember c. set aside B. pay for D. watch

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VOCABULARY IN CON T E X T: Mastery Test 5 A. Use context clues to help you and write in the space provided the letter with the best meaning for each word in italics. Please note that all phrases are taken from college textbooks. 1. So g-ldbr'ing is the chance to develop a bestseller that American companies spend billions of dollars a year developing new products or improving old ones. A. dangerous c. attractive B. definitive D. unreasonable 2. Chimpanzees can use sign language to convey ideas (ksn-vaf) such as "candy" and "hold me." A. decrease c. think B. accept D. communicate 3. Smoking or chewing tobacco, wrote King James I, was "loathsome (lofh'sam) to the eye, abominable to the nose, noxious to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs." A. attractive c. disgusting B. hidden D. sane 4. The death of a spouse can result in 'pre-found' depression, which in some cases can even result in the death of the spouse. a. deep c. occasionally B. randomly D. slightly 5. The healthiest types of parents are those who guide and advise their children, but also allow them a degree of autonomy (6-ton's-me) and encourage children to make their own decisions and yours. form their own opinions. A. Financing c. Independence B. Knowledge D. Leadership

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B. Use context clues to find the meaning of the italicized word in each of the following items. Then write your definition in the space provided. 6. A first aid person should ensure that a completely amputated body part is brought to the hospital with the victim. Surgeons can often microsurgically reattach the body part. Severed (sev'ard) means 7. Tabloids often distort the news by spreading rumors as if they were true. Distort (di-stort') means 8. It is not always necessary for adults to intervene in children's struggles; Sometimes it is better to let children handle arguments on their own. Intervention (m'tar-ven') means 4

9. Many companies used to have retirement policies that required people to stop working once they reached a certain age. Mandatory (man 'da-tor'e) means 10. After a vigorous public relations campaign against the union, the hospital finally relented and allowed its workers to join. Dedicated (ri-lent'id) means

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Given

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Vocabulary in Context: Mastery Test 6 A. Five words are italicized in the following textbook passage. Write the definition of each word in italics by choosing from the definitions in the box. Then write the letter of the definition in the space provided. Be sure to read the entire passage before making your choice. Note that there are five definitions left. A. Colorful B. Pass c. arouse interest

D. delayed E. more common F. uncontrolled

G. disappeared H. pray

I. augmented J. punished

“A century ago, the prevailing view among industrialists was that business had only one responsibility: to make a profit. 2 In general, these were not good times to be a stingy worker or a careless consumer. 3People worked sixty hours a week in harsh conditions for a dollar or two a day. 4The few who tried to fight the system faced violence and unemployment. “Consumers weren't much better. 6Once you have bought a product, you have paid the price and suffered the consequences. 7There were no consumer groups or government agencies to defend you if the product was defective or caused damage. 8If you tried to sue the company, you would probably lose. These conditions caught the attention of some Crusade journalists and novelists known as Muckrakers. 10 They used the power of the pen to provoke public anger and campaign for reform. Largely thanks to his efforts, a series of laws were passed to limit the power of monopolies and set safety standards for food and medicine. When the economic system collapsed in 1929 and 25 percent of the workforce was unemployed, people lost faith in unbridled capitalism. 14 The government is being pressured to fix the system. 15 At the urging of President Franklin Roosevelt, Congress passed legislation to protect workers, consumers, and investors. 16 The social security system was established, workers were given the right to join unions and bargain collectively, the minimum wage was introduced, and the length of the work week was limited. “Laws have also been enacted to prevent unfair competition and misleading advertising. _ I. In sentence \,predominant (priv-va f ling) means

_ 2. In sentence 10 it means to shake (aj'i-tat').

_ 3. In sentence 13 it means unbridled (un-brld'ld).

_ 4. In sentence 14 it means mounted (mount'id).

_ 5. In sentence 17 it means enacted (en-akt'id).

. (continued on next page) 51

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B. Five words are italicized in the following textbook passage. Write the definition of each word in italics by choosing from the definitions in the box. Also write the letter of the definition in the space provided. Be sure to read the entire passage before making your choice. Note that there are five definitions left.

A. causes B. nice c. To pay

D. deadly G. retarded E. recognition H. useful F. forced to experiment

ME. the j.reducer

•In the early days of medicine, there were few drugs or treatments that provided any real physical benefit. 2As a result, patients have been treated in a variety of bizarre and largely ineffective ways. For example, Egyptian patients were treated with "lizard blood, crocodile dung, pig's teeth, donkey's hooves, rotten meat, and fly stains." 4If the disease itself did not shut down the patient, he or she had a good chance of dying from the treatment. 5 Medieval medical treatments were slightly less deadly but not much more effective. 6And as late as the 18th century, patients were subjected to repeated bleeding, freezing, and induced vomiting to achieve a cure. 7 Surprisingly, people often seemed to experience relief from such treatments. 8 Doctors have been respected for centuries, especially when few remedies were really effective. 9 To what is attributed the fair success of these treatments and the general confidence in the efficacy of doctors? 10 The most likely answer is that these are examples of the tremendous power of the placebo effect: "any medical procedure that produces an effect in a patient by virtue of its therapeutic intent and not by its specific nature, either chemical or physical." today, the role of placebos in relieving pain and discomfort is significant. l2 Many patients who ingest useless substances or undergo useless procedures find that their symptoms disappear and their health improves. _ 6. In clause 4, to succumb (sa-kum') means

7. In sentence 5 it means mortal (le'thai).

8. In clause 6, subject (also sab-jekt'id) means 9. In clause 9, attribute (a-trib'yoot) means 10. In clause 11, restrict (kar-tal'mg) means.

2 main ideas

WHAT IS THE REAL IDEA? "What is the point?" You've probably heard these words before. It's a question people ask when they want to know in a nutshell what someone is trying to say. The same question can guide you as you read. Recognizing the main idea or point is the most important key to good understanding. To find it in a reading selection, ask yourself, "What is the main point the author is trying to make?" For example, read the following paragraph while asking yourself, "What does the author mean?" “School bullies have been around as long as schools have been around. Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. 3Research shows that a certain combination of height and personality may be a factor. 4 Larger, more aggressive children are more likely to try to dominate their smaller, quieter peers. “Another factor associated with bullying is excessive exposure to violent television programs. 6 By the time the average American child is ten years old, he has seen thousands of acts of violence, including assaults and murders. 7 Such exposure can lead to aggression and violence. 8 Finally, exposure to actual violence is a factor in bullying.9 Studies indicate that victims of bullying often become bullies. “Look a bully straight in the eye and you could be looking into the eyes of a former victim. two

A good way to find an author's point of view or main idea is to look for a general statement. Then decide whether this claim is supported by most of the other material in the paragraph. If yes, you have found the main idea. On the next page are four statements from the passage. Choose the one that is a general statement and is supported by the other material in the passage. Write the letter of this statement in the space provided. Then read the explanation below. 53

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Four statements from the passage:

A. Bullies have been around as long as hell yCMfllfi has existed. B. Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. C. Research shows that a certain combination of height and personality may be a factor. D. Studies show that victims of bullying often become bullies. The general statement that expresses the main idea of the passage is

Explanation:

Sentence A: While this is a general statement, the paragraph does not explain how bullying has been a problem from the beginning of schools to the present day. So sentence A is not the main idea. Sentence B: The phrase "multiple reasons" is general. And indeed, the rest of the passage describes a set of three supporting reasons why some kids become bullies. Sentence B is then the sentence that expresses the main idea of the passage. Sentence C: This sentence is about a single reason. It is not general enough to include the other reasons for bullying. Sentence D: This sentence broadly supports the third reason for bullying: "exposure to actual violence." It does not cover the other material in the paragraph.

The main idea as an "umbrella" idea Think of the main idea as an "umbrella" idea. The main idea is the author's general point; all the rest of the heel material fits underneath. This other material consists of supporting details: specific evidence such as examples, causes, reasons, or facts. The following diagram shows the relationship.

STUDIES UNCOVER REASONS WHY SOME CHILDREN WILL REDUCE

Combination of size and personality Excessive exposure to violent TV shows Exposure to actual violence

MAIN IDEAS

The explanations and activities on the following pages will deepen your understanding of the basic idea.

RECOGNIZING A MAIN THOUGHT When you read a passage, you need to think as you read. If you just absorb the words, you will reach the end of the section without understanding much of what you have read. Reading is an active process unlike watching television, which is passive. You need to actively engage your mind and keep asking yourself, "What's the point?" while reading. Here are three strategies that will help you find the main idea. 1 Look for general and specific ideas. 2 Use the theme to lead you to the main idea. 3 Use keywords to get to the main idea. Each strategy is explained on the following pages.

Look for general and specific ideas You saw in the bullying paragraph that the main idea is a general idea supported by specific ideas. The following exercises will improve your ability to separate general ideas from specific ones. If you learn to recognize the difference between general and specific ideas, you can find the main idea.

>=- Exercise 1 Each sentence below has a general idea and three specific ideas. The general idea includes all specific ideas. Label each general idea with a G and specific ideas with an S. Look at the example first. Example 1. S S S G

dogs goldfish hamsters pets

(Pets is the general idea that encompasses three specific types of pets: dogs, hamsters, and goldfish.)

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

home cooking

Takeout options for eating frozen food

deadbolt locks alarm system dogs barking security types

warm and humid cold and rainy cloudy with isolated showers weather forecast

. Divorce bad grades big trouble eviction

sleeping too much bad habits overeating smoking

not taking notes in class bad study habits skipping class studying for tests

Traffic delays cool head minor bad coffee issues

tone surprised enthusiastic humorous

communicate write read speak

Hurry up, go to bed, tidy up, clean up this mess.

>^ Exercise 2 1. Suppose you are describing a good friend. That he or she is a good friend is a common notion. Give three specific reasons why he or she is a good friend.

2. We all have certain valuable material possessions in our lives. What three specific objects are especially important to you? 3. Everyone has goals. What three specific goals do you have in your life?

4. Most students have had teachers they admire. Name one such teacher and three specific traits or behaviors that made you like or respect that teacher.

MAIN IDEAS

Teacher Name: Specific Qualities or Behaviors:

5. At some point you had to do a really unpleasant task or job. List three specific reasons why this task or job was so uncomfortable.

>=»- Practice 3 In the following groups, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

My family has real problems. My mother has cancer. my sister is pregnant i lost my job

Iris has a big smile. Iris asks you questions about yourself. Iris, it's a pleasure to be here. Iris really listens when you talk.

I feel like I'm short of breath. I get dizzy and sweat. I have pain in my chest. I could have a heart attack.

It is difficult to work with my boss. He lacks humour. He never praises. He measures all our pauses to the second.

We had different political beliefs. The date was a nightmare. We were dressed very differently. We were both too nervous to say much.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Exercise 4 In each of the following groups, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

A. Last night we could hear and smell a large animal hanging around in front of our store. B. Green flies with stinging bites are abundant around our campsite. C. It's time to find a new place to camp. D. We found a rattlesnake nest nearby.

A. Children are at risk at school. B. There are two active gangs at the school. C. Knives and guns were found in lockers. D. Drug searches were conducted at the school.

A. Cats are clean and don't need a lot of attention. B. There are definitely benefits to having a cat as a pet. C. Cats enjoy living indoors and are safe with children. D. Cats are cheap to feed and easy to keep healthy.

A. Many credit card companies charge individuals annual fees that range from $25 to $50. B. Credit card companies get money from their customers in a variety of ways. C. Almost all credit card companies charge high interest rates of up to 20% or more. D. Most credit card companies sell their customers' names and addresses to other companies.

A. Communicating with family and friends via computer email requires very little effort or time. B. Finding information is as easy as typing several keywords. C. Online purchases can be made quickly with a few mouse clicks and the use of a credit card. D. Computers make everyday life much easier.

MAIN IDEAS

^*- Exercise 5 In each of the following groups, all based on textbook options, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

A B C D.

Teenagers flock to malls to meet friends, eat fast food, and socialize. Older people often go to shopping malls to exercise. Shopping malls have many uses in American society. Malls provide space for community groups to hold events.

A. Instead of working full time, many of today's workers work part time with little job security and few benefits. B. Job security and our ideas about work have changed significantly in recent years. C. Unlike in years past, most people entering the workforce today will change jobs multiple times during their careers. D. Rather than work for someone else, many of today's workers hope to start their own business.

A. The American food industry is serving up ever-increasing portions of food to American consumers. B. Fast food restaurants, including Burger King, McDonald's, and Taco Bell, now offer extra-large meals to their customers. C. Many chain restaurants in the US now offer all-you-can-eat buffets. D. Supermarkets now offer super-size or "family-size" portions of many foods.

A. By reducing the production of certain hormones, exercise reduces the risk of certain types of cancer. B. Regular exercise strengthens the immune system, promotes mental health, and builds well-being. C. People who exercise regularly have stronger bones, more flexible joints, and healthier hearts. D. Regular exercise four to five days a week has important health benefits.

A. When young children play, they have fun, but they also develop in important ways. B. During play, young children learn to use their muscles and become better coordinated. C. Children who pretend to be others explore their identities and "try on" others. D. By creating and acting out stories, children learn about emotions and feelings.

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Use the theme to lead you to the main idea. You already know that to find the main idea of an election, you first look for a general statement, which is often found at the beginning of an election. Then check to see if most of the rest of the material in the paragraph supports that statement. If yes, you have found the main idea. Another approach that can help you find the main idea is to decide on the subject of a specific selection. Theme is the overall theme of a selection. Often it can be expressed in one or more words. Knowing the topic can help you find the author's main point on the subject. Paying close attention to the subject of a selection can lead you to the main idea. Textbook authors use the title of each chapter to indicate the general theme of that chapter. They also contain many topics and subtopics in bold headings within the chapter. For example, this is the title of a chapter in a sociology textbook: Aggression: Hurting Others (a 38-page chapter) And these are the subtopics: Theories of Aggression (a 12-page section) Influences on Aggression (a 20 page chapter) section Section) Aggression Reduction (a 6 page section) Once you have studied the previous chapter, you can use the themes to find the main ideas. (See pages 17 and 18 for instructions on how to do this, as well as other textbook study tips.) textbooks To find the subject of a selection when no subject is given, ask this simple question: Who or what is the selection about? For example, look back at the beginning of the paragraph that began this chapter: Bullies have been around as long as schools have been around. Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. What is that single word in the above paragraph about? On the line below, write what you think the theme is. Topic: You probably answered that the topic is bullying. When she read the paragraph again, she saw that each sentence is actually about bullying. The next step after finding the topic is to decide what main point the author will make on the topic. Authors often present their main idea in a single sentence. (This phrase is also known as a main idea phrase or topic phrase.) As we've seen, the main point about bullying is that "studies reveal various reasons why some kids become bullies."

MAIN IDEAS

Check your understanding. Now let's look at another section. Read it and then see if you can answer the following questions. "Although chimpanzees are fun to watch, they should not be kept as pets. 2 You are dangerously stronger than any NFL lineman. 3 Adult chimpanzees weigh only 100 to 160 pounds, but they have been measured to pull six to nine times their own weight, with one hand.4 Thus, to match the strength of the average chimpanzee, a human would need to be able to register a two-handed pull of about a ton; it takes a very strong man to pull out a quarter of that.5Combined with This strength is the ability of a chimpanzee to lose its temper for reasons known only to itself.6Chimpanzees signal their feelings through subtle behavioral cues that are undetectable to most humans.7It is quite possible for a chimpanzee to be on edge from violence while its owner sits unconsciously or even continues to provoke unconsciously.In addition, it is not advisable to keep a cute young chimpanzee and release it in nature when it becomes dangerous. “In the wild, chimpanzees routinely team up and kill captive-bred animals. 1. What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what is the paragraph about? Tip: It often helps to search for (and even circle) a recurring word or idea in the paragraph.

2. What is the main idea of the paragraph? In other words, what is the author doing with the topic? (Remember that the main idea is supported by the rest of the material in the paragraph.)

Explanation:

As the first sentence of the paragraph indicates, it is about "chimpanzees". If you read the paragraph, you will see that it is about chimpanzees. And the main idea is clearly that "chimpanzees should not be kept as pets". This idea is generic and summarizes what the whole paragraph is about. It is an "umbrella" statement under which all the other material in the paragraph fits. The parts of the paragraph could be presented as follows: Subject: Chimpanzees Rationale: Chimpanzees should not be kept as pets. Supporting Details: 1. Dangerously strong 2. Can lose his temper 3. Vulnerable to attack if released in the wild

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The following exercises will sharpen your sense of the difference between a topic, the gist of the topic (the main idea), and supporting details. y> Exercise 6 Below are groups of four elements. In each case, one element is the theme, one is the main idea, and two are details that support and develop the main idea. Label each item with one of the following: T - for the topic of the section MI - for the main idea SD - for the supporting details Note that an explanation is provided for the first group; Reading it will help you in this exercise. Group 1

The creak of a house coming down can sound like a monster emerging from a grave. Gusts of wind hitting a bedroom window can sound like an intruder is about to break in.

Night noises can scare children.

noises at night.

Explanation:

All the statements in Group 1 are related to night noises, so point D should be the topic. Each of the statements A and B describe specific night noises. However, statement C represents the general idea that night noises can frighten children. It is the main idea on the subject of noises at night, and statements A and B are supporting details that illustrate this main idea.

Group 2

A. People vary in the number of dreams they have. B. About 2 to 4 percent of the population spends at least half of their free time imagining. C. Almost everyone dreams about 10 percent of the time. D. Daydreaming.

MAIN IDEAS

group 3

A. Global warming. B. The melting of the polar ice caps will raise the sea level and inundate the coastal areas. C. A warmer atmosphere can cause droughts that turn farmlands into deserts. D. Global warming can cause devastating changes to life on Earth. group 4

A. There are ways to stay healthy as you get older. B. One way for people to stay healthy as they age is to continue to face mental challenges. C. Following a balanced, low-cholesterol diet and a sensible exercise program will help people stay in good shape throughout their lives. D. Health in old age. Team 5

A. Love at first sight is a poor foundation for a happy marriage, according to a study of 1,000 married and divorced couples. B. Couples who only met briefly but fell in love immediately found that their feelings for each other weakened instead of strengthening. C. Love at first sight. D. Couples who considered themselves happily married reported that they were not very attracted to their partners when they first met, but gradually found themselves more attractive as they got to know and understand each other better. >^ Exercise 7 Five paragraphs follow. Read each paragraph and do the following: 1. Ask yourself, "What does the paragraph seem to be about?" (It often helps to find and even circle repeating words or ideas in the paragraph.) yourself, "What is the author's main message on this topic?" This will be the main idea. It is in one of the sentences of the paragraph. 3 Next, test what you think the main thought sentence is by asking, "Is this statement supported by most of the other material in the paragraph?"

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Tip: When searching for a theme, be careful not to choose a theme that is too broad (includes much more than is in the selection) or too narrow (includes only part of the selection). be everything in this selection includes - no more, no less. For example, the theme in Group 1 on page 62 is "Noises at night." "Noise" would be too broad as there are many other types of noise that are not mentioned. "The creak of a house" would be too narrow, since it's only one type of nighttime noise mentioned.

Paragraph 1

“Stories have the magic of grabbing our attention and holding our interest. The politician or preacher who says, "That reminds me of a story..." immediately grabs the audience's attention. 3 Consider the success of 60 Minutes on television, the longest-running and most lucrative prime-time show in television history. 4 The person behind its success, producer Don Hewitt, says, "The secret to our show is so simple I can't believe others haven't followed the formula. 5 There are four words every child knows: 'Tell me a story. ' 6 I look at things in screening rooms and I'm like, 'That's an interesting guy and those are some great scenes you have there, but what's the story?' 7 Without the 'story,' Hewitt knows the audience is leaving.

1. What is the topic of the paragraph? In other words, what is the paragraph about (in one or more words)? _ 2. What statement does the author make on this topic? In other words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the main idea. (Remember that the main idea is supported by the rest of the material in the paragraph.) Paragraph 2

“Psychic perception, or ESP, is an area that fascinates people. However, ESP is not backed by convincing evidence. For example, it seems that ESP would be a great way to win at games of chance like those played in casinos. 4But casino owners in Las Vegas and Atlantic City report that they have no problem with "psychics" winning large sums of money. 5Although much attention is drawn when a psychic appears to be helping police solve a crime, the value of such help has never been scientifically proven. 5Psychic clues are usually useless, and a case is solved with traditional police work. 7And while audiences may be surprised by the exploits of "mind readers," the fact remains that mind readers use simple psychological tricks to exploit their audience's will to believe. two

MAIN IDEAS

Sixty-five

1. What is the topic of the paragraph? 2. What statement does the author make on this topic? In other words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the main idea. paragraph 3

Hospices are a special type of health center. 2Hospices differ from hospitals and nursing homes in several ways. 3First, they treat terminally ill patients who are unlikely to live more than a year. 4Hospitals, however, aim to help patients recover from illness, and nursing homes provide long-term care for the disabled and elderly. 5The purpose of hospice is also to help the dying and their loved ones. 6 By contrast, hospitals and nursing homes have limited resources to help the families of patients. 1. What is the topic of the paragraph? 2. What statement does the author make on this topic? In other words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the main idea. Paragraph 4

“Some people still believe that they can drink alcohol and be careful when driving. 2However, it is estimated that alcohol plays a role in at least half of all fatal road accidents. 3Another bad attitude towards driving is refusing to wear a seat belt. Statistics show that you are more likely to be seriously injured or killed in a car accident if you are not wearing a seat belt. 5The belief that driving fast is the best car is also life-threatening. 6 Once again, the statistics contradict this attitude: driving at high speeds is more likely to result in fatal driving. 7 Following the reduction in speed limits, the number of road fatalities has dropped significantly. A final misconception is that talking on a cell phone does not affect a driver's alertness and reaction time to unexpected traffic conditions. “Studies show the opposite, with the result that many call for a ban on mobile phones while driving. 10There is no doubt that bad driving habits contribute to the high number of traffic accidents and their brutal consequences. 1. What is the topic of the paragraph? 2. What statement does the author make on this topic? In other words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.

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Paragraph 5

“Our behavior is strongly influenced by our environment. Imagine a newborn baby. 3If we take the baby from its American parents and place it with an indigenous Yanomamo tribe in the jungles of South America, predictions could be made about the child's behavior. 4You know that when the child begins to speak, his words will not be in English. 5You also know that a child living in this tribal environment will not behave like an American. 6For example, he or she will not grow up wanting credit cards or designer jeans, a new car and the latest video game. 7 Likewise, the child will unquestioningly take his place in Yanomamo society, perhaps as a gatherer, hunter, or warrior, ignorant even of the world he left behind at birth. 8 And in that environment the child will grow up assuming that it is natural to want many children, and without discussing how many children to have. 1. What is the topic of the paragraph? 2. What statement does the author make on this topic? In other words, what is the main idea of the paragraph? In the space provided, he writes the number of the sentence that contains the main idea.

Find and use keywords that lead to the main idea Sometimes authors make it pretty easy to find their main idea. They advertise it with keywords or phrases that are easy to spot. One type of keyword is a list word that tells you to follow a list of items. For example, the main idea in the bullying section was formulated as follows: Studies show various reasons why some children become bullies. The phrase "multiple reasons" helps you focus on your goal: the main idea. You realize this paragraph will be about the specific reasons why some kids become bullies. Here are some common words that often announce a main idea. Note that they all end in s. List of words

multiple forms (or forms) of three benefits for different reasons

five-step multiple causes a series of effects

some factors among the results a number of

When phrases like these appear in a sentence, look carefully to see if that sentence might be the main idea. A keyword sentence like this is most likely to be followed by a list of important supporting details.

MAIN IDEAS

Check Your Understanding Underline the words from the list in the following sentences. Note: Remember that the words in the list usually end in s. example

Certain behaviors can get you fired quickly.

1. American workers can be said to earn multiple types of income. 2. Water pollution takes two forms. 3. The purchase price of a home is just one of several costs buyers must consider. 4. Troubleshooting generally involves a series of four steps. 5. The increasing influx of women into the workforce has been driven by a variety of economic factors. Explanation:

You should have underlined the following phrases: multiple species, two forms, multiple costs, a set of four steps, and a set of economic factors. Each of these sentences tells you that a list of details will follow.

There is another type of keyword that can draw your attention to the main idea. This type of keyword, called an adjunct, is used just before a supporting detail. When you see this type of keyword, you can assume that the main idea of the paragraph is the general statement that contains that detail. Here is a box of words that often introduce important supporting details and help you figure out the main idea. additional words

one first for one thing

to start another second too

furthermore next

last last finally

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0 Check Tour Comprehension Reread the bullying section and underline any additional words that call your attention to the supporting details. “School bullies have been around as long as schools have been around. Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. 3Research shows that a certain combination of height and personality may be a factor. 4 Larger, more aggressive children are more likely to try to dominate their smaller, quieter peers. 5 Another factor associated with bullying is overexposure to violent television programs. 6By the time the average American child is ten years old, he has witnessed thousands of acts of violence, including assaults and murders. 7Such exposure can lead to aggression and violence. 8Finally, exposure to actual violence is a factor in bullying. “Studies show that victims of bullying often become bullies. "Whether they are being abused by family members or bullied by other children, bullies often learn their behavior from others. n Look the bully square in the eye and you may be looking into the eyes of an ex victim 2

Explanation:

The words that introduce each new supporting detail to the main idea are one, another, and finally. As soon as you see the words other factor in the paragraph, you realize that a factor has already been mentioned and that the paragraph should be about factors. Noticing the words that introduce the supporting details suggests the main idea: multiple reasons (or factors) that lead children to become bullies.

The chapter Supporting Details that follows has lots of practice on the words and phrases that will help you figure out the main idea and supporting details. But what you've already learned here will help you find the main ideas.

LOCATION OF MAIN IDEAS Now you know how to identify a main idea by 1) distinguishing between general and specific, 2) identifying the theme of a passage, and 3) using key words. You are ready to find the main idea no matter where it is in a paragraph.

MAIN IDEAS

A main idea can appear anywhere within a paragraph. Very often it appears at the beginning, either as the first or second sentence. However, main ideas can also appear later in a paragraph or even at the end. Main idea at the beginning Main idea

introductory detail

Idea principal

Support detail Support detail Support detail Support detail

Support detail Support detail Support detail

In textbooks, it is very common for the main idea to be the first or second sentence. See if you can underline the main idea in the next paragraph. "Spanking is a bad way to influence a child's behavior. 2 On the one hand, spanking causes feelings of anger and frustration. 3 So the child doesn't learn anything positive from punishment. 4 Plus, spanking can actually lead to more misbehavior.5Once a child has learned that hitting is okay, he may attack younger children.6Finally, spanking teaches children to hide certain actions from their parents.7However, once they are out of sight of their parents, children may feel they can get away with bad behavior.In this paragraph, the main idea is in the first sentence.All subsequent sentences in the paragraph detail the negative effects of spanking.

Check Your Understanding Now read the following paragraph and see if you can underline its main idea: • Rear-end collisions (driving too closely behind another vehicle) are a common cause of accidents. 2However, rear-end collisions could be avoided if drivers followed some clear guidelines. 3Any car that is less than two seconds from the car in front is definitely too close. 4Two car lengths is a safe distance to keep when driving on public transportation. 5 Two-car accidents often become multi-car crashes when multiple drivers collide. 6At highway speeds or in snow, ice, or fog, the distance should increase well beyond normal. 7 Finally, impatient or aggressive drivers must develop the self-control not to express these feelings through dangerous behaviors such as tailgating.

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Explanation:

In the above paragraph, the main idea is given in the second sentence. The first sentence introduces the topic, but it is the idea of the second sentence (you can avoid following closely by following clear guidelines) that is supported by the rest of the paragraph. So remember that the first sentence can simply introduce or lead into the main idea of a paragraph. Quite often, a contrasting word like still, but or whatever signals the main idea, as in the paragraph you just read: Tailgating - following another vehicle too closely - is a frequent cause of accidents. However, rear-end collisions could be avoided if drivers followed some clear guidelines.

Main idea in the middle Introductory detail Introductory detail

Main Idea Supporting Detail Supporting Detail

The main idea sometimes appears in the middle of a paragraph. Here's an example of a paragraph where the main idea is somewhere in the middle. Try to find it and underline it. Then read the explanation below. “Many of us resent telemarketers calling us day and night trying to sell us everything from magazine subscriptions to vacation homes. 2 These electronic intruders don't seem to care how much they annoy us and refuse to take "no" for an answer. ^However, nuisance calls can be stopped if we take over the call. 4As soon as one of them asks if we are Mr. or Mrs. X, we must answer: “Yes, and are you a lawyer on the phone?” 5This technique puts them on the defensive. 6Then we have the opportunity to say that we do not accept inquiries by phone, only by mail. 7The conversation ends quickly. If you thought the third sentence expressed the main idea, you were right. The two sentences before the main idea introduce the topic: the problem of annoying telemarketers. The author then presents the main idea, which is that we can stop telemarketers from moving forward by taking over the conversation. The rest of the paragraph builds on this idea by telling us how to have the conversation.

MAIN IDEAS

Guiding principle at the end Support Support Support Support

Detail Detail Detail Detail

Idea principal

Sometimes all the sentences in a paragraph lead to the main idea that is presented at the end. Here is an example of such a paragraph. “A study in a prison showed that having a pet can transform a tough inmate into a more loving person. 2Another study found that older people, both single and in foster care, were more interested in life when they were given foster pets. 3Even emotionally disturbed children smile and react with interest when a kitten or puppy holds them in their arms. 4Therefore, animals can be therapeutic tools for many types of individuals.

Main idea at the beginning and end Main idea Supporting detail Supporting detail Supporting detail

Idea principal

Sometimes an author chooses to state the main idea near the beginning of the paragraph and then emphasize it by repeating it later in the paragraph. In such cases, the main idea is both at the beginning and at the end. This is the case in the next paragraph. “Many “modern” advances have their origins in antiquity. 2For example, ancient Babylon, Assyria, and Egypt all had postal systems. 3In the 9th century B.C. In addition to accepting checks, the "banks" in Baghdad had branches as far away as China. 4An electric battery containing a copper cylinder, an asphalt plug, and an iron rod was discovered in a 2,000-year-old tomb in Iraq. 5The ancient Etruscans made false teeth and dental bridges when Rome was a small city. 6Ancient India had specialized surgical instruments such as scalpels, needles, forceps, and syringes. 7 Two thousand years ago, the Chinese used bamboo to introduce natural gas for light, heat, and cooking. 8The ancient Egyptians used lightning rods to protect their temples. 9The bathrooms in the rooms with sanitation systems are almost five thousand years old in various cultures. 10 The lesson to be learned is clear: many "modern" inventions are actually quite old.

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and> Exercise 8

The main ideas of the following paragraphs can be found in different places: at the beginning, somewhere in the middle, or at the end. Identify each main idea by writing the sentence number in the space provided. 1. “The American badger is a particularly hardy and resourceful prairie dweller. 2The badger is about 60 cm long, has a low silhouette and a dusty brown coloration that allows it to blend well with its surroundings. Animal and stubborn, the badger knows no fear and will fight anyone and anything when provoked. 4Dog owners fear that their pets will face a badger, which can inflict terrible injuries. 5A badger is almost immune to rattlesnakes due to the thick layer of fat under its skin, and will even eat the rattlesnake as a tasty snack. 6Badgers are the champion burrowers of the prairie, quickly digging into any type of terrain with their powerful 1" claws. They hunt at night with the help of these powerful claws and eat almost all animal and plant species. 8 The main food of the badger Badger are rodents, but when he discovers a chicken coop, he quickly develops poultry.2 “Before the early 1800s, most Americans didn't know how to tell time.2 In fact, most didn't even own watches. 3The seasons and sunrise and sunset were their times.4But Americans' attitudes toward time changed dramatically in the mid-18th century, when many New Englanders switched from farming to factory work.5Hundreds of thousands of factory workers had to adjust to a new sense of time 6 bells signaled the beginning and end of work shifts and meal times 7 The first Your morning bell could start your days at 4:30 am. 8 You should go to bed when the dismissal bell rang. 3. “Caffeine is a natural component of coffee, tea, cola, cocoa, and chocolate, and is added to some prescription and over-the-counter medicines. 2Although caffeine is “natural,” it is also a powerful drug that takes a toll on the body. 3In healthy, well-rested people, a dose of 100 milligrams (about a cup of coffee) increases alertness, dispels drowsiness, speeds reaction time, improves mental and muscular effort, and increases heart and respiratory rates. 4Drinking a cup or two of coffee an hour before exercising encourages the body to store glycogen and burn fat, which leads to greater endurance. 5Caffeine also masks fatigue. 6In doses of more than 300 milligrams, caffeine can cause insomnia, nervousness, irritability, headaches, palpitations, and muscle spasms. 7Caffeine is also addictive, and those who attempt to quit suddenly after excessive consumption may experience withdrawal symptoms such as headaches, lethargy, irritability, and difficulty concentrating.

MAIN IDEAS

4. “Queen Isabella of Spain, who died in 1504, boasted that she had bathed only twice in her life: at birth and before marriage. 2 In colonial America, leaders frowned on bathing because it involved nudity, which they feared could lead to a lack of morals. In fact, laws in Virginia and Pennsylvania restricted or prohibited bathing altogether, and in Philadelphia, for a time, anyone who bathed more than once a month faced jail time. 4 In addition, some early Christian churches discouraged foaming because it was associated with immorality in Roman baths. 5Apparently, the idea that cleanliness comes along with godliness was not always popular. 5. “Research has revealed our self-centered tendency to see ourselves more positively than others see us. 2In one study, members of a random sample of men were asked to rate themselves on their ability to get along with others. 3By ignoring the mathematical laws, all the subjects, all of them, were placed in the upper half of the population. 460% were in the top 10% of the population, and a staggering 25% were in the top 1%. 5 In the same study, 70 percent of men rated their leadership position in the top quartile of the population, while only 2 percent rated their leadership position below average. 6 Sixty percent said they were in the top quartile of athletic ability, while only 6 percent said they were below average.

CHAPTER REVIEW In this chapter you learned the following: • Recognizing the main idea is the most important key to good understanding. The main idea is a general "umbrella" idea under which all the specific supporting material of the passage fits. • Three strategies that will help you find the main idea are: 1) Look for general versus specific ideas; 2) Use the theme (the general theme of an election) to lead you to the main idea; 3) Use keywords to get to the main idea. • The main idea often appears at the beginning of a paragraph, but it can also appear in other parts of the paragraph. The next chapter, Chapter 3, will sharpen your understanding of the specific details authors use to support and develop their main ideas.

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•

On the Web: If you are using this book in your classroom, you can visit our website for additional key idea identification exercises. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on online tutorials.

Review Quiz 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, answer the following questions by filling in the blanks or writing the letter of the correct answer. 1. The general statement that covers all the material in one paragraph is called A. topic.

B Idea.

C. supporting details.

2. The supporting details are always more (A. general; B. specific) than the main idea. 3. To find the main idea of a selection, it may be helpful to first decide on its A. theme.

B. Structure.

C. Length

4. While a main idea can appear anywhere within a paragraph, in textbooks A. very often appears at the beginning.

B. in the middle.

C. al final.

5. To help you decide if a particular sentence is the main idea, ask yourself: "Do all or most of the 9 sentences support this statement?"

Repeat Test 2 A. In each of the following groups, one statement is the general point and the other statements specifically support that point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

A. The executives kept false accounting records to hide the fact that the company was losing money. B. Employees were strongly encouraged to buy company stock, which is now worthless. C. The company's top executives made millions of dollars while the company went bankrupt. D. The officials of this failed energy company should be jailed for a long time.

MAIN IDEAS

A. Traditional Japanese culture emphasizes self-discipline and respect for authority. B. No one in Japan, including police officers, is allowed to have a firearm in their home. C. Tokyo's crime rate is the lowest of any major city in the world for several reasons. D. At least once a year, police officers visit every house in Japan to talk about the situation in the neighborhood.

B. Each following group of statements includes a theme, a main idea, and two supporting details. Label each item in the space provided with one of the following: T - for paragraph topic MI - for main idea SD - for supporting details Group 1

A. Staying in the sun too long can cause heat stroke. B. People develop skin cancer after years of working in direct sunlight or "working in the sun" or after years of exposure to direct sunlight. C. Time in the sun. D. Spending time in the sun can be dangerous. Group 2

A. Rubbing your nose and eyes transfers viruses to your hands, which then contaminate anything they touch, such as B. a doorknob, serving spoon, or phone. B. Since the dry cold virus can live for up to three hours, you can pick it up from an object after the person with the cold has left. C. Catch a cold. D. The most likely way to catch a cold is to touch an object that someone with a cold has touched.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

^- Verification test 3

The main idea appears at various points in the following sections. Write the number of each main idea in the space provided. 1. “Criticism is a valuable tool to help ourselves and others achieve personal growth. 2Criticism, however, has a bad reputation because it is often careless or cruel. 3These are some guidelines for offering constructive criticism. 4 First, wait for the person to ask for feedback on their performance or actions. 5Unsolicited criticism is generally not valuable. 6Second, describe the person's behavior as specifically as she can before criticizing it. 7Instead of simply saying, “You were terrible,” tell the person exactly what you observed. 8And finally, try to balance your criticisms with positive affirmations. 9Look for high points in the other person's performance that you can honestly praise. 2. "Leroy "Satchel" Paige was one of baseball's unforgettable characters. 2 He spent most of his playing life dominating the best hitters in the Negro Leagues before Jackie Robinson broke the color line with Brooklyn in 1947 Paige never revealed his actual age), but he hit so well that his name was seriously suggested for Rookie of the Year.4 He had a series of strange pitches that most hitters had never seen before, combined with a disorienting pitching motion and to pinpoint accuracy.5His combination of competitiveness, baseball skills, and wonderful storytelling made him so popular with his teammates that several notoriously biased white players became his friends.In 61965, Paige, probably in his early 50s, launched his last game: three shutout innings for the Kansas City A's 7Satch was inducted into the Hall of Fame six years later 3. “In Bulgaria, the ge He nods his head to say 'no' and shakes his head from side to side to say 'yes'. 2In Brazil, making the "A-OK" sign by making a circle with your index finger and thumb is not only not okay, but also very rude. 3Showing the soles of your feet to a Turk is a serious insult and implies that "you are lower than the ground on which I walk." ^ Throughout the Middle East, offering the left hand in a handshake, or shaking it, will be deeply offensive. 5The Japanese consider it polite to bow to different levels, depending on the message you are trying to convey. 6When a Frenchman wants to make a strong statement, he moves his raised index finger from side to side. 7In many Mediterranean cultures, people who are

MAIN IDEAS

non-romantic friends go hand in hand. 8 And in America, especially in the West, a firm handshake and straight eye contact is expected when men meet; In many cultures this would be considered very impolite. 9Body language that is perfectly normal or meaningless in one culture can mean something very different in another. 4. “Some Americans believe that the colonialists cleverly won the Revolutionary War by hiding behind rocks and trees and firing on the British, who were marching and fighting in bright red ranks, without even aiming their muskets. 2In fact, the British in the American colonies were being worn down by a combination of factors. 3Although the colonies never had a strong army, they had a constant supply of abundant manpower and easily recouped their losses. 4 British indentured soldiers (or German loan soldiers), on the other hand, required more time for training and generally had to be shipped across the Atlantic. 5Furthermore, the colonies were not Britain's only concern; A much bigger concern was France, with whom the British were constantly at odds. 6If too much energy had been spent maintaining the colonies, France could have invaded and conquered Britain. 7France was well aware of this, so at the beginning of the war she began supplying the colonizers with supplies and soon afterward she sent a fleet and an army. 8 French contributions proved crucial at Yorktown in 1781, where the French and American armies held off Lord Cornwallis's army in Virginia while the French fleet repulsed the Royal Navy's rescue efforts. 5. “People often think of shame as a powerful form of shame. 2However, a psychological study of 104 people suggests that embarrassment and embarrassment are very different experiences. 3In general, embarrassment results from a relatively minor event that occurs while others are around. 4A person is more likely to blush. 5In addition, an embarrassing event is likely to contain an element of surprise and will be remembered with smiles or jokes. 6 Shame generally does not lead to a feeling that one needs to correct a situation. 7 Shame is felt when people reveal a personal fault to themselves and perhaps to others. 8 Unlike shame, it is likely to make you feel that a situation needs repair. 9Furthermore, while shame is strongly related to how we think others see us, shame is often felt when one is alone. l0 And it is generally not considered humorous later on.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

^- New Quiz 4 Here is your chance to apply your understanding of the main ideas to a full selection. Read the following article and then answer the following questions about the key ideas. There are also questions to help you further practice your ability to understand vocabulary in context. Words to Watch For Below are some words from the reading that do not have strong contextual support. Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). Tequila (1): a strong liquor made from a Mexican plant Myth (3): a false hoax (8): a false impression Irony (12): a meaning that is the opposite of what is actually said

TO YOUR HEALTH Joan Dunayer 1

As the only freshman on his high school's varsity wrestling team, Tod was eager to fit in with his older teammates. One night after a game, on the way home, he was offered a bottle of tequila. Death felt that he had to accept it or he would be made a coward. He took a sip, and each time the bottle was returned to him, he took another sip. After seven drinks he passed out. His terrified teammates took him to his house and then his mother rushed him to the hospital. After his stomach was pumped, Death found out that his blood alcohol level was so high that he was thankfully not comatose or dead. Unfortunately, alcohol use is not uncommon among high school students, or indeed in any other segment of our society. And that's no coincidence. There are numerous influences in our society that encourage people to drink, not the least of which is advertising. who can remember a

Baseball or basketball game on TV without a beer commercial? Additionally, advertisements for alcoholic beverages appear in magazines, billboards, and college newspapers with great frequency. According to industry estimates, breweries spend more than $600 million a year on television and radio advertising and another $90 million on print ads. In addition, the alcoholic beverage industry spends approximately $230 million a year on print advertising and has greatly expanded its presence on cable and independent stations since 1966. Most recently, NBC became the first network station to accept commercials from strong alcoholic beverages for transmission. To top it off, this aggressive alcohol advertising promotes a harmful myth about alcohol consumption. Part of the myth is that alcohol signals career success. A full page ad for a fancy men's magazine.

Scotch Whiskey features two men sitting in a fancy restaurant. They are both in their thirties, perfectly groomed, and wearing expensive-looking gray suits. The windows are covered in velvet, the table in immaculate white linen. Each place service consists of a long-stemmed water cup, silver utensils, and heavy silver plates. There is a half empty cocktail glass on each plate. The two men smile and shake hands as if they have just closed a deal. The caption reads: "The taste of success." Contrary to what the liquor company would have us believe, drinking is associated with lack of success rather than achievement. Among college students, heavy drinkers get the worst grades. In the workforce, alcoholics are often late or absent, typically perform poorly, and are often fired. Although alcohol abuse occurs in all economic classes, it remains more prevalent among the poor. Another part of the alcohol myth is that drinking makes you more attractive to the opposite sex. “Hot, hot, hot,” a commercial soundtrack begins as the camera scans a crowd of college-age bathers. Next, he follows the curve of a woman's leg to her bare hip and remains there. She is young, beautiful and wears a bikini. A young man with a cooler is near her seat. He is tanned, muscular. She doesn't show much interest, until he opens the chest and pulls out a beer. Now she smiles at him. She raises her eyebrows and seductively holds another can. She joins him. This beer, the song concludes, "draws like no other." Beer doesn't make anyone sexier. Like all alcohol, it reduces the levels of male hormones in men and female hormones in women, even when ingested

MAIN IDEAS

In small quantities. In significant amounts, alcohol can cause infertility in women and impotence in men. Some alcoholic men even develop enlarged breasts. The alcohol myth also creates the illusion that beer and athletics are a perfect match. A billboard features three action-packed images: a sprinting sprinter, a surfer riding a wave, and a basketball player jumping for a dunk. A particularly light beer, the billboard promises, "won't slow you down." "Slow down" is exactly what 9 Alcohol does. Alcohol use plays a role in more than six million injuries each year, not counting car accidents. Even in small amounts, alcohol dulls the brain, reduces muscle coordination, and slows reaction time. It also affects the eyes' ability to focus and adjust to sudden changes in brightness, such as B. car headlights flickering. Responsible for more than half of all traffic fatalities, drink driving is the leading cause of death among teens. Continued alcohol abuse can physically alter the brain, permanently impairing learning and memory. Long-term alcohol use is linked to malnutrition, bone loss, and ulcers. It increases the risk of liver failure, heart disease and stomach cancer. After all, according to the myth, alcohol is the magic ingredient that generates social success. Hundreds of television and radio advertisements have repeated this message over the years. In one commercial, for example, an overweight man sits alone in his drab living room. He reaches into an ice chest, pulls out a bottle of beer, and unscrews the cap from the bottle. Immediately, dance music begins to play and dozens of attractive young men appear in a shower of streamers and confetti. "Where the party

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

begins," a voice says. The once lonely man, now a popular guy with many

Alcohol leads to loneliness, despair and

Friends, you have found the answer to your social problems: beer. 11 Relationships based on alcohol are unlikely to lead to social success and real friendships. In fact, studies show that when alcohol becomes the focus of a social gathering, it can lead to public drunkenness and violence. The ad image of the man's new friends ignores an undeniable reality: that alcohol ruins relationships, not creates them. Along with fighting and simple assaults, alcohol use is linked to two-thirds of domestic violence incidents. Instead of leading to healthy social connections,

Patients in state and regional mental hospitals have problems with alcohol; more than half of all violent crimes are alcohol related; The suicide rate among alcoholics is fifteen times higher than in the general population. Advertisers want us to believe the myth that alcohol is part of being successful, sexy, healthy and happy; but those who have suffered, directly or indirectly, know otherwise. For victims of drinking, "Here's to your health" rings with terrifying irony when accompanied by the clinking of shot glasses.

craziness. About a quarter of

Reading Comprehension Questions Vocabulary in Context _____ 1. In A. B. C. D.

In the following excerpt, the word title (kap'shan) means man. Menu. Contract that seals the deal. words to image “In a fancy men's magazine, a full-page ad for Scotch whiskey shows two men sitting in a fancy restaurant. . . . The caption says: 'The taste of success'” (paragraph 4)

2. In A.B.c. D.

In the following sentence, the word prev'a-lant means weak. multicolored. widespread. cheap. "Although alcohol abuse occurs in all economic classes, it is more prevalent among the poor." (paragraph 5)

3. In the excerpt on the next page, the word substantial (sab-stan'shal) means A. great. B. reasonable. C. weak. D. nice.

MAIN IDEAS

"Beer...reduces male hormones in men and female hormones in women, even when drunk in small amounts. Alcohol in significant amounts can cause infertility in women and impotence in men." (Paragraph 7) 4. In the following sentence, im-par'ing means A. harm B. Duplication C. Move D Teaching “Prolonged alcohol abuse can physically alter the brain, permanently impairing learning and memory." (Paragraph 9) 5. In the following sentence, the word generated (jen'a-ratz') means A. eliminated. B. hides. C. produced. follows D. “After all, according to myth, alcohol it is the magic ingredient that generates social success." (Paragraph 10) Main idea 6. The main idea of paragraph 2 is its A. first sentence. B. second movement, c. third sentence. D. last sentence. 7. The The main idea of paragraph 4 is its A. first sentence B. second sentence C. third sentence D. last sentence 8. The topic of paragraph 5 is drinking and notes A. B. work C. the poor D. Failure 9. The main idea of paragraph 5 is its A. first sentence B. second sentence C. third sentence D. fourth movement

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

10. The main idea of paragraph 10 is its

B. second movement, c. penultimate sentence. D. last sentence.

Discussion Questions 1. Unfortunately, Tod's experiences with alcohol are not that rare. Do you know someone who has had a negative experience from drinking alcohol or from drinking and driving? Where did this person drink and how much did he drink? Explain what ended up happening. 2. If it's true that "beer doesn't make anyone sexier," why do you think so many young people drink so much beer in social situations? 3. Think of an ad for wine, beer, or spirits that you have seen in a magazine, newspaper, or on television. What part of the alcohol myth described in Por tu salud does this ad promote? What details in the ad contribute to this element of the myth? 4. Cigarette advertising is no longer allowed on television. Do you think beer advertising should also be banned on TV? In the college newspapers? Justify your answers. Note: See pages 585-586 for writing assignments for this selection.

Correctly verify your benefit number

activity test 1

MAIN IDEAS Points

score

(5 item)

Verification Test 2 (16 items)

2,5 =

try again 3

(5 item)

Repeat test 4 (10 items)

TOTAL SCORE

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

KEY IDEAS: Mastery Test 1 A. In each of the following groups, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

A. Hungry bears looking for food often threaten hikers. B. Walking on this mountain trail can be very dangerous. C. Severe weather develops quickly, exposing hikers to storms and cold. D. When it rains, the road, which is very steep in some places, becomes slippery.

A. Even after going deaf, the musical genius Beethoven did not stop composing. B. He would sometimes test passages on the piano to make sure they were playable, even though he couldn't hear himself playing. C. Every day at dawn, Beethoven began working at his desk, writing the music he heard only in his head. D. Being deaf, he created chamber music, his famous Ninth Symphony and many other works.

A. Terrorists hijacked passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, both on the same day. B. Suicide bombers have killed themselves and dozens of others in the Middle East. C. One hundred sixty-eight people were killed when an American terrorist blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City. D. Children have had to deal with the knowledge of many horrible terrorist attacks.

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A. Some people knock on wood when they talk about happiness. B. Everyday superstition. C. Some people believe that they should leave a house by the same door they entered. D. There are many superstitions that are practiced in everyday life.

Group 2

A. Desert plants have several characteristics that make them highly tolerant of long periods of drought. B. Many desert plants have waxy leaves, stems, or branches that reduce water loss. C. Characteristics of desert plants. D. The roots of some desert plants often reach great depths to take advantage of moisture.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

. Fecha. X5

PRINCIPALES D E A S : mastery test 2

A. In each of the following groups, all based on textbook selections, one statement is the general point and the other statements are specific support for the point. Mark each item with a P and each supporting statement with an S. 1.

A. The pessimistic view of man means that people are basically lazy and have to be forced to work. B. Politicians and business leaders often base their policies on one of several assumptions about people. C. The optimistic view assumes that people are interested in doing their job well and are capable of self-direction. D. A mediocre theory is that although people do not dislike work, they do not work efficiently without proper guidance.

A. African American and Hispanic children have the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the country. B. Hispanics in the United States are four times more likely to contract tuberculosis than whites. C. Health profiles in the United States show differences between racial and ethnic groups. D. The infant mortality rate for Native Americans is higher than for whites but lower than for African Americans.

A. Anxiety disorders, in which normal fears have become exaggerated or unrealistic, take many forms. B. A phobia is an anxiety disorder in which an unrealistic fear interferes with a person's normal life. C. Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa (refusal to eat) and bulimia (nausea with subsequent vomiting) are considered anxiety disorders. D. Compulsive behavior is an anxiety disorder characterized by persistent and unrealistic ideas (eg, contamination by germs) that lead to mindless behavior (eg, constant hand washing).

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B. Each following group of statements includes a theme, a main idea, and two supporting details. Label each item in the space provided with one of the following: T - for the topic of the section MI - for the main idea SD - for the supporting details Group 1

A. School officials complain that students are damaging school property and parents complain that their children can't read or do math. B. Teachers complain about the low wages they receive for their difficult and important jobs. C. problems in our schools. D. The problems in our school systems are diverse and affect almost everyone involved. Group 2

A. There are support groups based on the Alcoholics Anonymous model to help people with a variety of problems. B. Self-help groups. C Narcotics Anonymous sponsors meetings where drug addicts and their families can receive support. D. Overeaters Anonymous supports people whose eating habits are out of control.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Data X 20 =

MAIN THOUGHTS: Mastery Test 3 The main idea can appear anywhere in any of the following five paragraphs. Write the number of each main thought sentence in the space provided. 1. "Creatures that are very sensitive to changes in the air before a storm can 'predict' a change in the weather. 2Birds, for example, feel the change in pressure and fly lower. 3Thus, birds that fly low indicate that rain is coming." Similarly, houseflies recognize this change and head indoors to avoid the downpour. 5And cats have been known to groom themselves just before a storm. 6In doing so, they react to the static electricity that enters the air before a thunderstorm. 7Electricity separates their fur and makes them feel dirty, so they lick themselves to leave the fur soft and 'clean' of health problems at any age. 3 More men than women abort, are stillborn, or die in their first year of life. 4 In all societies, men die before women. 5 American men are more likely than women to die of heart disease. Lung diseases and cirrhosis of the liver. 6 They are more prone to stress-related illnesses such as high blood pressure, ulcers, and asthma. 7 They are more likely to be hospitalized for mental illness. 8 Women are more likely than men to attempt suicide, but men succeed in committing suicide three times as often (mainly because they use violent means: guns instead of sleeping pills). 3. “The eruption of volcanoes has caused death and misery throughout the centuries. 2But in parts of Italy, Iceland, Chile, and Bolivia, volcanic steam is used to power combined heat and power plants. 3Pumice, which is made from volcanic lava, is used as an abrasive and polishing agent. 4Sulfur produced by volcanoes is useful for the chemical industry. 5Hawaiian farmers farm on land enriched by decaying volcanic material. 6Volcanoes seem to benefit us in many ways, for all the damage they cause.

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4. “Adult children who move home can avoid family conflicts by

for some helpful tips. 2First, they must contribute with what they do

It can, and doesn't necessarily have to be for the money. 3Being productive members of the family will help them earn a living. 4This may mean tutoring or training younger brothers or sisters, or helping mom and dad with chores and errands. 5Second, adult children in the home should not expect their parents to bail them out of trouble. 6As adults, they are responsible for getting out of their own predicaments and trying to avoid predicaments in the first place. 7Finally, they must respect their parents' lifestyle and their own needs for independence. 8 It is unrealistic to expect parents' lives to revolve around the needs of an adult child, as they might have done when the child was younger. 5. “Police estimate that only 1 to 2 percent of homeless crimes are reported, so there are no accurate statistics on such events. 2However, common horror stories indicate that hitchhiking can be dangerous for both the hitchhiker and the driver. 3 There was the nineteen-year-old woman who was kidnapped by three young men in New Jersey, waiting to cross the bridge into New York City. 4 Instead, they drove to a motel where she was repeatedly raped. 5 Fortunately, she escaped with her life. 6 Less fortunate was the 18-year-old college student who disappeared from campus after traveling with a stranger and whose decomposed body was found two years later in a suburban sewage treatment plant. 7Male hitchhikers are less vulnerable to attack, but a series of incidents show they are far from immune. 8 Hitchhikers also face the dangers of driving with a drunk or drugged driver, one of which is an accident. 9You also run the risk of being attacked or robbed by other hitchhikers and stranded in remote locations. “Drivers are also targeted for attacks and robberies. And they risk an accident if they stop on a busy highway, or arrest if their passengers turn out to be carrying drugs. l2Some male drivers have picked up young girls who have threatened to call the police and yell that they will rape them if the men do not hand over all their money.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Dice x 20 =

MAIN IDEAS: Mastery Test 4 The main idea can appear anywhere in any of the following five paragraphs. Write the number of each main thought sentence in the space provided. 1. “Fire expanded the geographical limits of humans, allowing them to travel to regions that were previously too cold to explore. 2It also kept predators out and allowed early humans to sleep in safety. 3Indeed, fire has been an important factor in human development and progress in many ways. 4Other obvious benefits of fire include its use for cooking and hunting. 5Perhaps most importantly, learning to control fire allowed humans to change the rhythm of their own lives. 6 Before the fire, the human day cycle coincided with sunrise and sunset. 7However, the fire gave people time to think and talk about the events of the day and strategize to face the morning. 2. “The stages of life, from birth to death, appear to be controlled by biology. 2However we think about the stages of life is shaped by society. 3In the Middle Ages, for example, children dressed and had to behave like small adults. 4Adolescence became a distinct part of life relatively recently, when a distinct adolescent subculture emerged. 5But in the Middle Ages, young people up to the age of 16 were "children." Then they went to work, got married, and had children of their own. 7Today, “young adulthood” has become a new phase of life, spanning from 20 to 30 years of age. 8As life expectancy increases and people spend years in active retirement, adulthood has also become a different stage of life. 3. “New technologies often create unforeseen problems. 2Cars, for example, offer numerous benefits, but they also pollute the air and kill about 50,000 Americans each year. 3Life without electricity is hard to imagine, but the generation of electricity pollutes the air and causes thermal pollution of rivers, insecticides and chemical fertilizers have done wonders for agriculture, but polluted food and streams (and even " killed" some lakes). 5Jet planes help us in many ways, but they create air pollution (one jet plane taking off emits the same amount of hydrocarbons as the exhaust of ten thousand cars) and noise near busy airports.

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4. "By the end of the first series of Sherlock Holmes stories, the author, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, was tired of writing detective stories. 2

So, at the end of his second Holmes Stones book, he decided to let the detective die. 3 The book ends with Holmes and his nemesis Moriarty falling to their deaths from a high cliff overlooking a waterfall. 4Then Conan Doyle received hundreds of letters asking him to bring Holmes back. 5 In addition, the magazines offered him huge sums of money for new Sherlock Holmes adventures. 6Finally, after nine years, Conan Doyle wrote a new story in which Holmes reappears and Dr. Watson says that he didn't die after all. 7Sometimes it is the reader, not the author, who determines how long fictional heroes will live. 5. "With so many young single adults having babies, one wonders how lucky they are as new parents. 2A national survey of young single mothers and fathers shows that most were happiest before becoming parents. 3Sixty-seven percent of the 9,000 new parents who responded to the survey said having a baby presents more problems than they imagined.4 Fifty-six percent of respondents said they had to drop out of school even though they expected to complete schoolwork and raising a baby.5Most (73 percent) said they were forced to seek financial help from family, friends, and/or government agencies, and 37 percent said they took unsatisfying, low-paying jobs out of necessity.6In addition, 70 percent said they missed the "good times" with friends they enjoyed before their babies were born.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Date x20

KEY IDEAS: Mastery Test 5 The next five paragraphs are taken from college textbooks. The main idea can appear anywhere within each paragraph. Write the number of each main thought sentence in the space provided. 1. “An author researching a book asked thousands of Americans what makes them happy. 2Some of the popular responses he received included eating ice cream sandwiches and candy, being offered a ticket to play soccer, and visiting city parks. 3Other specific reactions included eating ravipji, feeling the cold underside of a pillow, and rereading old love letters. 4The most common response was simply spending time with family. “Almost no one has responded that they own flashy jewelry, flashy cars, or other luxurious things. 6 The author concluded that most of the things that make us smile are simple and free or cheap. 2. “To delete or not to delete? 2 That's the question many students ask themselves after drawing one of those little circles on multiple-choice tests.4 However, one research professor found that when students change answers they aren't sure about, they often generally change their improvement score, they had actually revised his or her response.6 The instructor found that revised responses were two and a half times more likely to go from bad to good than vice versa.7 This statistic held even across variables like gender , age and race; The subject of the examined tests did not play any role either. 3. “Finding a good way to dispose of garbage is a problem that many municipalities face today. 2You may find some comfort in knowing that there have almost always been problems with garbage collection. 3When settlements were very small, garbage was simply dumped out in the open, where it eventually decomposed. 4But as communities grew, pigs and other animals helped clean up the garbage by eating it; of course, the animals in turn recycled this trash, creating an even less attractive litter problem. The first urban attempt to deal with garbage was started in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin, whose solution was to dump it into the Delaware River. 6 A century later, the city's incinerators, usually located in the busiest part of town, burned trash and produced the worst odors as a byproduct.

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4. “In both Canada and the United States, many people arrested for a crime are never properly punished. 2 Prosecutors often drop charges due to failures in arrest procedures: officers did not follow the rules carefully enough or did not file their records properly. 3In many other cases, the prosecution is dismissed in preliminary hearings due to problems with the evidence, such as the absence of important witnesses. 4Of the cases that overcome these barriers, many are resolved by guilty plea. 5 That is, the charges are reduced in exchange for a guilty plea. 6This saves the government the cost of a trial, but also reduces the penalty. 7 And of those who go to jail, very few will serve their full sentence. Good behavior leave is often 25 percent of the sentence, so most are paroled well before the end of their sentence. 5. “If we were to summarize the entire history of life on the planet in a single year, the first modern human would not appear until December 31 at around 11:53 p.m., and the first civilizations would be just a minute away. from the end comes the year. 2However, humanity's achievements in its short history on earth have been remarkable. 3 About 15,000 years ago, our ancestors practiced religious rituals and painted magnificent images on the walls of their caves. 4About 11,000 years ago, some human groups began to domesticate animals and plants, freeing themselves from total dependence on hunting and gathering. “About 6,000 years ago, people began to live in cities, specializing in different forms of work, dividing themselves into social classes, and creating different political and economic institutions—millions under one centralized government. 7 Advanced agricultural practices improved agriculture, leading to population growth and the rise of large nation-states. 8 Just 250 years ago, the Industrial Revolution began, propelling us into the modern world of factories and computers, jets and nuclear reactors, instant global communications, and terrifying military technologies.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Dice x 20 =

KEY IDEAS: Mastery Test 6 The next five paragraphs are taken from college textbooks. The main idea can appear anywhere within each paragraph. Write the number of each main thought sentence in the space provided. 1. “People may think that love and romantic feelings are enough as a basis for choosing a spouse. 2However, the chances of a marriage surviving would be improved if the prospective spouses considered a few unromantic questions before deciding to marry. 3For example, do the two people involved have a common socioeconomic background? 4The more similar they are in their social, economic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, the more similar their expectations of married life will be. 5What else are your goals? 6It is of great benefit for marriage when they know and share goals about work, lifestyle and family. 7Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how does the spouse-to-be treat others in his life? 8 During courtship, special attention may be paid to the bride or groom, but in the long run the spouses are likely to treat each other like members of their own family. 2. “There is a tendency in our society to leave important decisions in the hands of groups. 2In the business world, the most important decisions are made around a conference table, not behind someone's desk. 3In politics, important political decisions are rarely made by a single person. 4 groups of advisers, cabinet officers, committee members or aides meet to deliberate and decide. 5In court, a defendant can request a jury trial, and jury trials are required by law for some felonies. 6 And, of course, the Supreme Court of the United States makes collective decisions on matters of great importance. 3. “The American ideal of a lush, green lawn was borrowed from England, where cool, misty weather makes it easy for grass to grow. 2In the United States, however, lawns are an energy-intensive, wasteful, and unproductive form of landscaping. 3First, achieving a perfect lawn requires large amounts of expensive fertilizers and dangerous pesticides that pollute groundwater and find their way into lakes and rivers. 4In addition, gardeners often kill insects, moles, and ground squirrels that play a role in the balance of nature. 5Equally destructive is the constant watering of the lawn, often required when water is a finite resource. 6Finally, to give the lawn the effect of a green carpet, the grass must be mowed regularly, which requires an inexhaustible investment of human and mechanical energy. 7After all the work and expense, the end result is a flat rug that is devoid of interesting features, wildlife, or edibles. (continued on next page) 93

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4. “Propaganda is information that is disseminated systematically in order to

Convince listeners to have a certain opinion. Advertising is a ubiquitous form of propaganda in our lives. 3Four common advertising techniques are present in the advertising we see and hear every day. 4 One technique, the testimonial, involves a well-known person appearing on behalf of the product being sold. 5Advertisers assume, for example, that if we admire a sports star, we'll want to eat the cereal he or she is promoting. 6Another common propaganda technique, the moving train, makes us want to be “one of the gang”. "Everyone is moving to...", "Don't be left out..." and "Across America, people are discovering..." are phrases that suggest a car. 8The common people's propaganda technique is particularly popular on television. 9In simple commercials, we see and hear “normal” consumers talk about their experiences with a particular phone company, a headache reliever, or a brand of coffee. 10The fourth common propaganda technique, transference, encourages us to connect two unrelated objects in our mind. “For example, when a mighty puma paces around a shiny new car, advertisers expect us to transfer our wild cat sense of speed, strength and beauty into our vision for their product.” England at the court of King Arthur, depict a world of gallant knights in shining armor and fair maidens in distress.2 In reality, the real world of that time probably consisted of stinking men in rusty tin suits and maidens in some kind of distress. : the anguish of being constantly pregnant and having no rights in a male-dominated society.3 The same stories often glorified the brave men who fought to the death for king and country.4 However, most deaths in the fighting of the time was the result of medieval warfare. Medicine to draw out "bad blood" from a sick person was a common medical practice, but cleanliness was not.6 Other accounts of the legendary Camelot housed kings in resplendent palaces, clothed them in silk, and cloaked them in mysteries and fears. 7But what good is living in a cold, stone, rat-infested, poorly ventilated fortress? 8As for silk, war-indebted kings could rarely afford such foreign goods. 9Lana de casa did it mainly. 10 And there's certainly nothing silky about the discomfort caused by coarse wool undergarments. It's obvious that the Camelot mythos ignores the harsh realities of life in the Middle Ages in favor of a fantastical and unrealistic view of history.

3 Supporting Details In Chapter 2, you worked on the most important reading skill: finding the main idea. A closely related reading skill is finding supporting details. Supporting details provide the additional information you need to understand a main idea. This chapter describes supporting details and introduces three techniques to help you take study notes on main ideas and their supporting details: drawing, mapping, and summarizing.

WHAT ARE SUPPORT DETAILS? Supporting details are reasons, examples, facts, steps, or other types of evidence that explain a main idea. In the next section, three important details support the main idea that many people are strangely passive when they visit the doctor. As you read the paragraph, try to identify and verify the top three details ( / ). “Many people are strangely passive when they see a doctor. 2First, they often don't give the doctor complete information about their medical problem. 3They can hardly describe their symptoms and think that an experienced doctor, like a mechanic, can easily diagnose what is wrong with them. 4Second, many people do not ask their doctor for a complete and clear explanation of their condition. 5They don't want to appear ignorant to their “all-knowing” doctor, and they don't want to take up too much of that important person's time, so they say little and ask almost nothing. 6Finally, they often do not understand a doctor's instructions. 7Studies show that many patients do not understand why they should take a particular medication and for how long. 8 Unbelievably, some patients aren't even sure why they're having surgery when they're about to be taken to the operating room! 95

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Now see if you can complete the basic outline below by showing all three

Basic idea: Many people are strangely passive when they see a doctor. Supporting Detail 1: Supporting Detail 2: Supporting Detail 3: Explanation: You should have added that the patients did not provide 1) enough information about their problem, 2) a full explanation of their problem, and 3) a doctor's instructions for understand. These important supporting details will help you fully understand the main idea. To read effectively, it is often necessary to learn to identify main ideas and the details that support those ideas.

Understanding Major and Minor Details There are often two levels of supporting detail: major and minor details. The main details explain and develop the main idea. Small details, in turn, help to complete and clarify the most important details. In the following paragraph, the main idea is given in the first sentence. Read the paragraph and place a check mark ( / ) next to the two main details that support the main idea. The big details are in turn supported by small details, which in this case are examples. The first main detail is followed by three examples, and the second main detail is followed by one long example. “There are two ways to relate to the people in our lives. 2One way is to see them as objects: we get something from them, but we don't care how they feel. 3They are for our exclusive use. 4For example, we can treat as an object the person who sells us items in a supermarket, or serves us in a restaurant, or even teaches us a course we are taking. 5The second way we can see people is as subjects, realizing that they have feelings just like us. 6There is a story about a British man who was expecting important guests for tea one afternoon. 7 he peeked from his porch after lunch and was surprised to see that his gardener hadn't shown up for work. 8When he finally arrived, she broke it. 9 "Do you know who's coming here in an hour? I should fire you!" "Without looking up, the man said quietly, 'I'm sorry. l2My little girl died overnight and we had to bury her today.' 13For the first time the woman saw man as a person, not just a means to keep her lawn beautiful.14 She stopped being an object and became a subject, possessor of feelings, needs, pains and relationships in which she had never been before. thought-out.

SUPPORT DETAILS

Explanation:

The most important details are the “two ways of relating to the people in our lives” mentioned in the main idea. The first important detail is to see people as objects and the second detail is to see them as subjects. The little details are the examples the author used to clarify these two big details. The relationships between the main idea and its major and minor details can be seen at a glance in this brief informal description: Main Idea: Two ways of relating to the people in our lives 1. Seeing them as objects Examples: clerk in a supermarket, waiters , teachers 2. Think of them as subjects. Example: Briton and his gardener Note that just as the main idea is more general than the secondary details, the main details are more general than the secondary elements. For example, viewing people as subjects is more general than the specific example of the British woman and hers her gardener. The purpose of the rest of the chapter is to sharpen your sense of the relationships between main ideas and their supporting main and minor details. You'll practice three note-taking techniques that will make you a better reader: drawing, mapping, and summarizing.

Outline Creating an outline of a section will help you understand and clearly see the relationship between a main idea and its supporting details. Outlines begin with a main idea (or a heading that summarizes the main idea), followed by important supporting details. Sometimes there are also small details. Suppose you want to summarize the section on bullying that appeared in Chapter 2. Read the section again and try to identify and verify the three most important supporting details ( / ). 1

School bullies have been around as long as schools have existed. Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. 3Research shows that a certain combination of height and personality may be a factor. 4 Larger, more aggressive children are more likely to try to dominate their smaller, quieter peers. 5 Another factor associated with bullying is overexposure to violent television programs. 6By the time the average American child is ten years old, he has witnessed thousands of acts of violence, including assaults and murders. 7Such exposure can lead to aggression and violence. 8Finally, exposure to actual violence is a factor in bullying. 9Studies indicate that 2

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Victims of bullying often become bullies.

Whether abused by

lilf ffllBCR von lormcnicfluy o i l Mi w\m typify \™»their

behavior of others. "Look a bully straight in the eye and you could be looking into the eyes of a former victim.

Check Your Understanding Now see if you can fill in the missing points in the paragraph outline below, which shows major and minor details. Main idea: Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. Main detail:

1. A specific combination of size and personality

Little details: Big detail:

Larger, more aggressive children can dominate their smaller, calmer peers. two.

small things:

Important detail: Minor details:

3. Children who are abused by family members or bullied by other children often become bullies.

Explanation:

They should have added two important supporting details: (2) excessive exposure to violent television shows; (3) exposure to actual violence. And as a second important supporting detail, I should have added the small detail that the average American ten-year-old has seen thousands of acts of violence on television. Note that just as the main idea is more general than the supporting details, larger details are more general than smaller ones. For example, the fine detail that "excessive exposure to violent television programs" is a factor in bullying is more general than the fine detail that "the average ten-year-old American child has seen thousands of acts of violence."

SUPPORT DETAILS

Outline Tips The following tips will help you create an outline: ^^ Tip 1 Look for words that tell you that a list of details is coming up. Here are some common list words: Word List

•

various types of a four-step number

METRO

/ •:

several causes a number of among the results

a few reasons three factors multiple benefits

For example, review the main ideas in two paragraphs discussed above and circle the words on the list: • Studies show several reasons why some children become bullies. • There are two ways to relate to the people in our lives. Here the words multiple reasons and two ways tell us that a list of important details is coming. You won't always receive signals that are so helpful that below is a list with details. For example, there are no list words in the paragraph with this main idea: "Although chimpanzees are fun to watch, they should not be kept as pets." However, you want to note such words when they are present. These word lists will help you quickly understand the basic organization of a passage. ^& Tip 2 Look for words that indicate important details. These words are called addition words and are explained in more detail on page 174. Here are some common addition words: 4 r k&*S± addition words ( * * • )

a first second

first other

next to the next

furthermore last finally

Check Your Understanding Now look again at the selection of bullying on pages 97-98: 1. The word one (in a factor) marks the first important supporting detail. 2. Which adjective introduces the second important supporting detail? 3. What adjective introduces the third important supporting detail?

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And look again at the options for two ways of dealing with people on page 96:

I What word introduces the first big detail? 2. What word introduces the second great detail? Explanation:

In the selection on the subject of bullying, the second important detail is introduced by the word other (factor) and the third by the final word. When selecting a personal reference, the first important detail is entered with the word one and the second with the word second.

f& Tip 3 When creating an outline, place all supporting details of equal importance within the same margin. In the intimidation scheme on page 98, the three main supporting details are placed in the same place in the margin. Likewise, any small supporting detail is placed at its own fixed point from the edge. So you can see the main idea, the big details and the small details at a glance.

Check your understanding. Place the appropriate numbers (1, 2, 3) and letters (a, b) in front of the dots on the diagram below. Main idea Main detail Subdetail Subdetail Main detail Subdetail Subdetail Main detail Explanation:

You should put a 1, 2, and 3 in front of major details and an a and b in front of minor details. Keep in mind that an outline goes from the most general to the most specific, from the main idea to the main details and minor details.

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The following exercise will give you experience finding important details, separating larger details from smaller ones, and creating outlines. Exercise 1 Read each passage and then outline it. Start by writing the main idea and then fill in the supporting details. The first draft only requires important details; The second asks you to add smaller details as well. 1. “There are several steps parents can take to discourage television viewing and encourage reading. 2First, you should just have a TV and place it in the family room. 3If your child wants privacy, they need to go somewhere else, away from the TV. 4Second, combine reading with eating. 5 Instead of a TV, put a bookcase in the kitchen and make sure it is stocked with comics, magazines, local newspapers, etc. 6 Explain that all snacks are to be eaten in the kitchen. 7Since most children go short periods of time without eating, your children should read a lot while they eat their snack. 8Last but not least, don't even dream of putting a TV in a child's room. 9You want your kids to fall asleep reading books, not glued to a flickering screen. Main idea:

Important details: 1.

Important detail: 2.

Important detail: 3.

“The universities of the early 19th century were markedly different from the schools of today. 2First, the student body during this period was made up almost exclusively of white males. 3 Higher education was considered the final touch for upper-class gentlemen, an unnecessary privilege for those of lower social status. 4In addition, all students had to take the same courses regardless of their interests. 5They had to learn ancient languages

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(Latin, Greek, sometimes Hebrew), literature, science, mathematics, and political and moral philosophy. 6A third characteristic of nineteenth-century universities was their small size. 7 With the exception of a few of the older institutions, most universities had a student body of only a few dozen students. 8 The typical faculty consisted of only three or four professors and an equal number of tutors. 9 A final difference was that student life in the early 19th century was much more regulated than it is today. 10 Strict curfews dictated what hours students had to turn off the lights in their rooms, and most schools required students to attend services on campus. Note: Don't write down all the little details, try to summarize them in a few words. Main idea:

Important details: 1.

small things:

Important detail: 2.

small things:

Important detail: 3.

small things:

Important detail: 4.

small things:

Study Tip: Sometimes you want to include smaller details in your study notes; at other times this may not be necessary. When taking notes on a chapter or chapters of a textbook, use your best judgment. It's often better to be aware of the small details, but focus on writing down the main ideas and important details.

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MAPPING Students sometimes find it helpful to use maps instead of diagrams. Maps or graphs are highly visual diagrams in which circles, boxes, or other shapes show relationships between main ideas and supporting details. Every important detail is connected to the main idea. When smaller details are included, each one is linked to the larger detail it explains.

Check Your Understanding Read the next section and then see if you can complete the map and the following questions. “A good memory can be affected by several factors. 2One of these factors is the lack of motivation. 3 Without a real desire to learn or remember something, you probably won't. 4Another cause is lack of practice. 5To stay alert, memory skills, like any other skill, need regular use. 6A third factor that can damage memory is doubt. 7If you're convinced you won't remember something, you probably won't. 8A person with a positive attitude will do much better on a test than someone who is sure they won't remember the material. 9Finally, distraction can affect memory. 10 If you are distracted by the noise of the television or a nearby conversation, try to find a quiet area before trying to memorize.

What words introduce: 1. The first big detail? 2. The second big detail? 3. The third great detail? 4. The last big detail?

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Explanation:

The map highlights the most important details in a very visual way. You know the four factors that can affect memory: lack of motivation, lack of practice, doubts and distraction. The words that introduce the main details are one, another, a third, and a last.

Praxis 2

Read each section, then complete the following cards. The main ideas are given so that you can focus on finding the supporting details. The first pass just requires more detail. The second passage asks you to add larger and smaller details. 1. Many people are almost speechless when they want to meet other people. 2For those of us who find it difficult to initiate conversations with strangers, the following four strategies may be helpful. 3Note that each is developed in the form of a question, inviting the other person to respond. 4One approach is to introduce yourself, say your name, and ask for the other person's name. 5 "Hi, I'm Shelby. And who are you?" 6A second approach is to refer to the physical environment in a question.7For example, you can make a comment like: “This is terrible weather for a game, isn't it?”8Another approach is to compliment the other person and ask a question 9For example, you might say, "Your braid looks great. Did it take a long time?" "After all, you can get information directly from the other person. "In a work meeting, you might ask a question like, 'What department do you work in?' 12 At a party, you might say, 'Walt and Jan are having a very nice party. 13 Where do you meet them? of?'

There are four strategies for starting conversations with strangers.

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“Industrial dairy farming differs from traditional dairy farming in two aspects. 2First, there is immense labor savings in factory farming, factory farms have milking machines set up on a giant carousel, each revolution leaving enough time to milk a cow. “• Consequently, only one milker is needed to place and release cows when each milking station comes through the gate. 5 By contrast, in many countries milking is still done by hand and takes around 10 minutes per cow. 6 The second big difference is higher milk production per cow on factory farms.7 The average American cow produces 7.5 times more milk than the average cow in Brazil, where farms are outdated.8 Differences in productivity are as big that milk is much cheaper in the United States than in Brazil Industrial dairy farming differs from traditional dairy farming in two respects (important detail).

(Small thing)

(important detail)

(Small thing)

SUMMARY A summary is the reduction of a large amount of information to its most important points. The length and type of abstract depend on both the purpose and the material involved. Often, an abstract consists of a main idea and the most important supporting details. As a general guide, a paragraph can be reduced to a sentence or two, an article to a paragraph, and a textbook chapter to about three pages of annotations. One of the most common types of summaries occurs when taking study notes on textbook material. Very often it will be helpful to summarize examples of key terms. For example, look at the textbook passage on the next page and the summary below.

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“In some circumstances, the most effective way to deal with stress is to withdraw, to avoid the situation. 2 A person at an amusement park who is overwhelmed with fear at the sight of a roller coaster may continue on a less threatening ride or even leave the park altogether. 3A woman whose promotion depends on temporary relocation might simply quit her job and join another company. 4 Or she emotionally withdraws from the stressful situation by deciding that the promotion is no longer important to her and that she is already as far along in her career as she wants. Summary:

Withdrawal: Coping with stress by avoiding the situation. For example, a person who gets anxious about being near a roller coaster may go elsewhere. Note that a textbook definition of a key term (for example, withdrawal) should generally not be summarized, but instead formulated in the author's chosen language. On the other hand, it is often helpful to summarize supporting information. Summarizing often involves two steps: 1 Choose an example from among several possible ones. Which example you choose is up to you, as long as the concept is clear to you. In the summary above, the roller coaster example was chosen to illustrate the withdrawal. 2 Shorten the example if it is not too short yet. Note that the roller coaster example has been shortened from a very long sentence to a short one. A definition of a key term followed by a summarized example is a very useful way of taking notes, especially in introductory college courses where many terms are defined and illustrated. Study Tip: When you have a chapter of a textbook to learn, you can very often get what you need by doing two things: 1) writing the definitions in the chapter and summary examples of the definitions, and 2) writing lists of key support. details and any smaller details that you consider important.

Summarize a passage. Read the selection on the next page, taken from an introductory textbook for a college social studies course. As is often the case in these introductory texts, a new term is introduced, followed by an expanded example. Complete the study notes by circling the letter of the answer choice that best summarizes this example.

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“Bureaucracies have become a part of modern life because they are a powerful form of social organization. 2Once they exist, however, they tend to take on a life of their own. 3In a process called goal change, an organization continues even when it has achieved its goal and has no reason to continue. 4A classic example is the March of Dimes National Foundation, established in the 1930s to combat polio. 5At the time, the origin of polio was a mystery. 6Parents lived in fear because no one knew which child would be next to be affected by this debilitating disease. 7 To raise funds to discover the cause and cure, the March of Dimes placed posters of children on crutches near the cash registers in nearly every store in the United States. 8 The American public took the campaign seriously and made an important contribution. 9The organization raised funds beyond its wildest dreams. 10 In the 1950s, Dr. Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine, and that threat disappeared almost overnight. "So what? 12 Has the organization collapsed? 13 Finally, its purpose had been fulfilled. 14 But, of course, the March of Dimes still exists. 15 Faced with the loss of their jobs, the professionals who ran the organization quickly they found a way to keep their bureaucracy intact by going after a new enemy: birth defects.16 Their choice of enemy is surprising, because it is doubtful that we have Birth defects will ever run out, and therefore it is unlikely that these people ever lose their job:

Changing Goals: An organization finds a way to keep going, even when it has achieved its goal and no longer has a reason to go forward. Example: A. A classic example is the March of Dimes National Foundation, established in the 1930s to combat polio. B. After the March of Dimes achieved its goal of eradicating polio, it found a way to move forward when faced with a new enemy, birth defects. The C. March of Dimes successfully raised funds to discover the cause and cure of polio, and when Dr. Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine, the threat was eradicated almost overnight. Explanation:

Useful study notes should clearly show how an example illustrates a new term. In the case of the previous paragraph, the notes should contain the key point that an organization finds a way to continue even after it has achieved its goal. Neither Answer A nor Answer C explain how the organization in question, the March of Dimes, found a way to continue. Answer B is yes and it is the correct answer. Remember that the purpose of an example is to clarify a definition.

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^- Exercise 3 Read each textbook selection below. Then complete the study cards by circling the letter of the answer that best summarizes an example of the term being defined. 1. “People deceive themselves in various ways to better deal with problems. 2 One of these types is denial, the unconscious refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality. 3A researcher gives the example of a woman who was near death from severe burns. At first she was depressed and scared, but after a few days she began to feel confident that she would soon be able to return home and care for her children, despite all the medical advice against her. 5By denying the extent of her injuries, this woman was able to remain calm and joyful. 6She she was not just putting on a show for her relatives and friends; she thought she would recover. 7In another setting, researchers interviewed parents of children who died of leukemia. 8 Some parents denied the status of their children; others accepted it. 9Physical examinations found that those who denied the illness did not have the physiological symptoms of stress, such as excess stomach acid, found in those who accepted their children's illness. Study Notes: Denial: The unconscious refusal to acknowledge a painful or threatening reality. Example: A. Being near death from extreme burns depressed and scared a woman. B. The woman who was severely burned was near death by all medical indications. C. By refusing to believe that her burns were fatal, a woman on the verge of death could remain calm and happy. 2. “Imagine a ball on a flat table. 2If left alone, the ball stays where it is. 3 With a slight push, the ball rolls a little and then stops. 4 The smoother the ball and the table surface are, the further the ball will roll before stopping. 5Suppose we have a perfectly rough ball and a perfectly smooth and flat table, and there is no air to slow the ball down. 6 If the table is infinite and we kick the ball, will it ever stop rolling? 7In fact, we can reasonably assume that, under ideal conditions, the ball would keep rolling forever. 8This conclusion was first drawn by Galileo and later formulated by Newton as the first law of motion: an object will continue at rest or moving in a straight line at constant speed unless the object interacts with something else.

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Study notes:

Newton's First Law of Motion: An object remains at rest or moves in a straight line at a constant velocity if the object does not interact with anything else. Example: A. If you hit a ball lying on a level table lightly, it will not roll very far. B. A perfectly round ball on an endless table will not move if left alone, but it can roll forever if pushed. C. Galileo first came to a conclusion that Newton later established as his first law of motion. Exercise 4 Read each selection of textbooks below. Then make study notes by 1) writing down the key term and its definition, 2) choosing an example that clarifies the definition, and 3) writing that example in your notes, summarizing it if possible. 1. “Passive listening occurs when a listener tries to make sense of a speaker's comments without being able to interact with the speaker. 2Perhaps the best-known example of passive listening would be that of students listening to a lecture by a speaker without the opportunity to ask questions or interact with the speaker. 3Passive listening also occurs in interpersonal situations, such as when one person dominates a conversation while others assume the role of listeners, or when parents are lecturing their children without allowing them to respond. Study notes:

Example-_

“In an attempt to convince ourselves and others that the positive face we show the world is true, we tend to judge ourselves as generously as possible. 2Social scientists have called this tendency the selfish bias. 3 On the one hand, we often blame their personal qualities when others suffer. 4 On the other hand, when we suffer, we blame external forces for the problem. 5 Consider some examples. 6If they fail at a job, we may think they haven't been listening well or trying hard enough; When we messed up an order, the problem was unclear instructions or lack of time. 7 When he lashes out in anger, say that he is in a bad mood; when we attack in anger, it is

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because of the pressure we were under. 8 We say she should have been more careful when she was caught speeding; When we get caught driving, we deny we were speeding or say, "Everybody does it." Study notes:

Example-

A Final Note This chapter focuses on supporting details as they appear in well-organized paragraphs. Remember, however, that supporting details are part of the readings of any length, including selections, which may not include an easy-to-understand list of one important detail at a time. Starting with reading at the end of this chapter (page 116), you will practice answering all kinds of questions about important supporting details. These questions will develop your ability to pay close attention to what you are reading.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this chapter you learned the following: • Major and minor details provide the additional information you need to make sense of a main idea. • Listing words and additional words can help you find major and minor supporting details. • Outlining, mapping, and summarizing are useful note-taking strategies. • Outlines show the relationship between the main idea, major details, and minor details of a passage. • Maps are very visual schematics. • Writing a definition and summarizing an example is a good way to take notes on a new term. The next chapter, Chapter 4, shows you how to find main ideas and underlying focal points.

SUPPORT DETAILS

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•

On the web: If you are using this book in class, you can visit our website to get more practice identifying supporting details. Go to (=^z*-...• . > (continued on next page) 127

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Study Notes: Disruption in one part of our economic system causing change elsewhere. Example: A. The decision to build a new residence hall will cause some builders to have to work. B. Our economic system is very complicated. C. Building a dormitory allows builders to buy boats, give money to boat builders for restaurants, etc. C. Answer the supporting detail questions that follow the textbook passage. •Studies conducted by social scientist Margaret Mead in New Guinea in the 1930s show that not all cultures share our views on gender differences. 2For example, the mountain people called Arapesh do not believe that men and women have different temperaments. 3 They expect both sexes to be equally tame, homebound, and what we would call "motherly" in their relationships with others. 4Yet the people around Mundugumor are as fierce as the Arapesh are kind. 5Both men and women are “machos” who pay less attention to their children than to conspiring for power and position. 6 A third tribe, the Tchambuli, believe that the sexes differ in temperament, but their gender roles are the opposite of ours. 7The Tchambuli women are the practical and persistent providers, while the men of the tribe spend their days beautifying themselves and seeking the approval of the women.

7. Sentence 1 provides A. with the main idea. B. an important supporting detail. C. a small supporting detail. 8. In general, the main supporting details in this paragraph are A. Gender differences. B. Examples of different cultural interpretations of gender. C. Studies of the Arapesh. Yes. a set of stereotypes about western culture. 9. How many important details does this paragraph contain? A. Two /S) Three c. Four D. Five. 10. The Arapesh do not believe that men and women are A. equally kind. for example, "maternal". C. equal in temperament. D. Different in temperament.

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SUPPORTING DETAILS: Mastery Test 5 A. Answer the questions that follow the textbook passage. “The suburbs arose from a complex set of social factors. 2One factor was economic and technological development that allowed people to live far from their jobs. 3At the beginning of this century, most people had limited housing options due to the need to find transportation to get to work. This meant that most had to live in the cities close to jobs. “Because there were relatively few cars and highways, people walked or used public transportation to get to work and shop. 6 This fostered population concentration, with central cities serving as the commercial and cultural hub of urban areas. 7 In the 1940s and 1950s, the growing wealth of many Americans, coupled with the automobile, allowed them to live further from work and opened up suburban life to the American middle class. 8 Government policy was also a contributing factor to suburbanization. 9 Initially, the government paid 80 percent of the cost of expanding the interstate highway system. 10With cars and high-speed highways, people can now live far from their jobs and shopping. “In large cities like Los Angeles, for example, it's common to live fifty miles or more from where you work. In addition, government agencies made government-guaranteed mortgage loans available for the purchase of new homes. “Because land outside the cities was cheap and easy to come by, much of the construction took place here. 1. In general, the most important details in this passage are A. Economic developments that led to the growth of the suburbs. B. Factors that contributed to suburbanization. C. Ways the government has helped develop suburbs. D. First roles of our cities. 2. In particular, the main details of the passage are A. Suburbs; cities B. central cities; federally insured home loans for new construction, c. where people live; where people work D. economic and technological developments; government policy. *\

3. Sentence 1 provides A. with the main idea of the passage. B. an essential detail of the passage. C. a small detail of the passage. 4. Movement 8 provides A. with the main idea of the passage. VB) an important detail of the passage. C. A small detail of the passage.

(continued on next page) 129

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5. Movement 12 provides A. with the main idea of the passage. B. an essential detail of the passage. C. a small detail of the passage.

\ 7?

B. (6-10.) Complete the map of the following textbook passage by filling in the main idea and four main supporting details. “Over the years, experts in our country have suggested various purposes for imprisonment. 2Before 1800, it was generally believed that the punishment of those who did not conform to the rules of society was necessary for the community to feel morally satisfied. 3In recent years there has been a renewed interest in punishment, not for revenge but to restore a sense of moral order. 4For the last century and a half, a secondary purpose of imprisonment has been rehabilitation. 5 From this perspective, crime resembles a “disease”, something strange and abnormal for most people. 6The assumption is that individuals are not to blame for disease and that we should focus on curing it. 7 Another purpose of detention was to deter crime. 8Some studies suggest that the certainty of arrest and punishment tends to reduce crime rates. 9 Finally, some argue that neither rehabilitation nor deterrence really works, so having people with these goals in mind is pointless. 10 Instead, incarceration should be used as selective incarceration to reduce crime rates by keeping “tough” criminals off the streets. n A study of young men in Philadelphia found that 6 percent of the men were responsible for more than half of the crimes committed by the entire group.

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Name section SCORE: (correct number)

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SUPPORTING DETAILS: Mastery Test 6 A. (1-6.) Summarize the following passage from the textbook, filling in the missing major and minor details. “There are certain significant differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate. The most obvious difference, of course, is size: the House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate has 100. 3 This factor creates differences in style. 4 Perhaps, as one author noted, "the most striking difference noted by most visitors to the Capitol is the seeming formality and impersonality of the House chamber, in contrast to the relatively informal and friendly atmosphere of the Senate." of Representatives and the Senate. 6The rules of the house are varied and complex; The Senate Rules are short and relatively simple. 7 House rules, for example, severely limit the amount of time a member can speak during a debate, while senators have few restrictions. 8 Another difference between the two houses of Congress is the political inclination of their members. 9Most parliamentarians have smaller constituencies; each one speaks for the residents of a particular neighborhood. Therefore, the representative's concerns are often limited to local issues of interest to fewer groups. “Senators have constituencies all over the state. 12 Consequently, they must take into account the interests of different groups. 13 Another key difference between the two houses of Congress arises from the different terms of their members (two years in the House of Representatives, six years in the Senate).14 This means that most congressmen campaign almost all the time, while senators spend more time before having to seek re-election.15 As a result, senators are able to give more consideration to aspects of legislation that do not directly affect them. Chances of winning or losing voter support 2

Rationale: There are significant differences between the House of Representatives and the Senate. 1. Size differences: 435 in the House of Representatives vs. 100 in the Senate a. Differences in style 1) Formal style in the house 2) b. 1) 2)

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3. Differences in term of office: 2 years in the House of Representatives vs. 6 years in the Senate a. Constant request for agents b. Senators have more time for legislation that doesn't affect their campaigns (7-10). Complete the map of the following text passage by filling in the main idea and any important supporting details that are missing. “More or less, we all learned to react aggressively. 2Each of us is a potential attacker. 3Various conditions have been found to stimulate aggression. 4First, pain, both mental and physical, intensifies aggression. 5Any overtly painful event, whether it be a great disappointment, a personal insult or physical pain, can cause an emotional outburst. 6Environmental irritants can also stimulate aggression. 7 The best studied is heat. 8 Studies found that, compared with students who completed questionnaires in a room at normal temperature, those who did so in an uncomfortably hot room (above 30°C) felt more tired and aggressive with a stranger than respondents who expressed a higher index of hostility. 9A third condition that particularly provokes aggression is attacks by another. 10 Experiments confirm that attacks are followed by counterattacks, especially when the victim perceives the attack as intentional. “Ultimately, overcrowding, the feeling of not having enough space, can be stressful. 12The stress experienced by animals allowed to overpopulate a limited environment leads to increased aggression. BY it is undeniably true that densely populated urban areas suffer from higher rates of crime and emotional distress.

environmental irritants

4 Implicit Main Ideas and the Central Point

In Chapters 2 and 3, you learned the two fundamental parts of everything you read: a main idea and the supporting details that explain and develop that idea. A main idea can be clearly stated in a one sentence sentence. This chapter explains and practices two more advanced ways of finding a main idea: • Finding implied main ideas. Sometimes authors imply or suggest a main idea without expressing it clearly in a sentence. In such cases, the reader must discover that main idea by considering the supporting details. • Find center points. A selection consisting of several paragraphs or more has a general main idea called the central point or thesis. The paragraphs that make up the selection provide the supporting details for this central point. As with the main idea of a paragraph, the main point can be stated clearly or implicitly.

IMPLIED MAIN IDEAS Sometimes a selection is missing a sentence that directly reflects the main idea. In such cases, the author has simply chosen to let the details of the selection dictate the main idea. You have to figure out what that implicit idea is by deciding the point that all the details support. For example, read the following paragraph. 133

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“All human beings are concerned with some big questions: the existence of God, the meaning of life, the existence of life after death, and morality. 2About ike first, science doesn't matter io «ay! So the tube kaS sitkeT pl'OVfid 6t disproved the existence of God. 3Regarding the purpose of life, while science can provide a definition of life and describe the properties of living organisms, it has nothing to say about the ultimate purpose. 4Science cannot say anything about life after death, because it does not have tests to detect a “life after death”. 5Regarding the question of morality, science can show the consequences of behavior, but not the moral superiority of one action over another. 6 Science can't even prove that loving your family and neighbor is better than hurting and killing them. You can see that no sentence in the paragraph is a good "umbrella" statement that covers all other sentences. To decide on the main idea, we need to ask the same three questions that we use to find main ideas: • “Who or what is acting in this paragraph?” trying to say on this subject?” • And if we think we know the main point, we can test it by asking, "Does all or most of the material in the paragraph support this idea?" In the previous paragraph, everyone does Details about science and great human causes, so that must be the topic. Which of the following statements expresses the general point that the author is trying to make on the subject? Mark ( / ) the answer that you think is correct. A. Science alone cannot tell us about the four main concerns that all human beings have. B. Science alone has not provided an answer to the question of whether God exists. C. There is no scientific data on whether there is life after death. D. Science alone cannot guide us as to whether we should love our neighbor as ourselves Details reveal the author's general point in answer A: Science alone cannot tell us about the four main concerns that all human beings have. All other statements above are supporting details for this main idea. Although the main idea is not stated directly, it is clearly implied throughout the paragraph material.

Recognizing Implicit Main Ideas To find implicit main ideas, it often helps to decide on the topic first. Ask yourself, "Who or what is the selection about?" Once you've found the topic, ask yourself, "What is the author's main message on this topic?"

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0 Check Your Understanding Read the selection below and try to answer the following questions. “The original intent of a school worksheet was clever: to find out which students didn't understand the reading lesson so the teacher could work with them individually. 2Unfortunately, the teacher had to keep the rest of the class busy, so more worksheets were distributed. 3The assessment tool soon became a crowd control device. 4To make matters worse, worksheets multiplied faster than loaves and fishes, often reaching 1,000 per child per school year. 5However, research does not show a correlation between the number of worksheets a student completes and a child's reading ability. 6If you feed yourself reading six worksheets a day, 1,000 sheets a year, under the motto "Boys and girls, it's time to read", when you reach fourth grade, think, read worksheets and you will think wrong. that you are reading I hate it. 1. What is the topic of the previous paragraph? A. School worksheets B. Books C. Teaching material D. Crowd control device 2. Which statement best expresses the unstated main idea of these sentences? A. School worksheets can do more harm than good. B. Reading is one of the most difficult skills for teachers to teach and students to learn. C. Over the years, school worksheets have served as both an assessment tool and a means of crowd control. D. Teachers have a variety of teaching tools to choose from. Explanation:

The subject referred to in several sentences of the paragraph is school worksheets. The main implicit idea of worksheets is that they can do more harm than good. When you think you've identified a major implied idea, test yourself by asking, "Does all or most of the material in the paragraph support that idea?" In this section, the author (Jim Trelease in his book The Read-Aloud Handbook ) how worksheets became a control device for students and proliferated unchecked. He also points out that research hasn't shown any benefit from worksheets and that students given too many worksheets may think they "hate reading." So the paragraph clearly supports the idea that worksheets can do more harm than good.

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Praxis 1

Read cactus p p p l i anil men answer tnc (follow the terms. Rcnicnitjcr to find a topic asking "Who or what is the selection about? : Recognizing attached words (such as first, other, also, also, and finally) helps you identify the key supporting details that can hint at the main idea.

Paragraph 1

“Coal mining is dangerous for the miner and usually leaves large tracts of land that cannot be further mined. 2Acid rain from burning coal causes extensive damage to plants and animals. 3In addition, air pollution from the same source harms the health of millions of people. 4In addition, coal-fired power plants expose the people who live around them to more radioactivity than nuclear power plants, through traces of uranium, thorium, and radon in their smoke. 5 Most estimates put the number of deaths in the United States from cancer and respiratory diseases caused by burning coal at more than 10,000 a year. 1. What is the topic of the previous paragraph? A. Air pollution C Effects of acid rain B. Mining D. Disadvantages of coal 2. Which statement best expresses the unstated main idea? A. Coal is far from being a desirable fuel. B. Acid rain is a major environmental problem. C. More people are dying from cancer and respiratory diseases than ever before. D. Air pollution is our biggest environmental problem today. Paragraph 2

"One exercise myth says that when a woman lifts weights, she builds muscles the size of a man's. 2However, without male hormones, a woman cannot increase her muscle mass as much as a man. 3Another exercise misconception it's that it increases appetite."Regular exercise actually stabilizes blood sugar, which prevents food cravings.5 Some also find that a few minutes of exercise a day or one session per week is enough, but at least three solid training sessions per week are necessary to build muscle and muscle.Cardiovascular Fitness 3. What is the topic of paragraph A above?Women and exercise C. Myths about exercise B. Blood sugar levels blood D. Exercise three times a week

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4. Which statement best expresses the unexpressed main idea? A. Women who lift weights cannot become as muscular as men. B. There are several myths about the sport. C. Exercise benefits everyone. D. People use many different excuses to avoid exercise. paragraph 3

“Scientists count animals like elephants, gray wolves, ducks, and whistling swans by flying over them and counting them. 2Small animals, such as voles, are counted by catching them in a specific area and then counting them. 3Microscopic creatures are collected in a sample and counted one by one under a microscope. 4Songbirds are counted by people walking through each part of a designated area at the same time, and each person counts each songbird they see in their assigned area. 5. What is the topic of the previous paragraph? A. Counting microscopic creatures B. Counting C Methods for counting animals D. Scientists counting animals 6. Which statement best expresses the unexpressed main idea? A. There are several reasons for counting the population of certain animal species. B. The methods scientists use to count animals vary by species C. The microscope is one of the tools biologists use to count populations of species. D. Biologists face many difficult tasks when studying the wide variety of animal life on earth. Paragraph 4

“Are you one of the millions of people who are afraid to go to the dentist? 2You should know that some dentists specialize in treating people who are very afraid of dental work. 3These dentists encourage patients to talk about their fears and answer questions honestly and understandingly. 4Even if your dentist does not have that specialty, you can agree with him or her to use a sign, e.g. B. Raise your right hand if you feel too much pain. -This gives you a sense of control and reassurance that the pain, if any, is not beyond what you can bear. 6You can also try the deep breathing relaxation technique before and during appointments. 7One last good idea is to bring

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Headphones and listen to your favorite music in the dental chair. 8It's hard for the brain to register pain when your favorite rap group or classical musician is filling your head. 7. What is the topic of the previous paragraph? A. Dentists B. Ways to relax C. Better communication with your dentist D. Less scary dental visits 8. Which statement best expresses the unstated main idea? A. Millions of people fear going to the dentist. B. There are ways to make going to the dentist less painful and scary. C. There are dentists who specialize in treating patients who are very afraid of dental work. D. If you are afraid of going to the dentist, try the relaxation technique of deep breathing before and during the appointment.

Exercise 2 The main idea of each of the following paragraphs is unstated, and each paragraph is followed by four sentences. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses each key idea not expressed. Remember to carefully review all the information provided and ask yourself these two questions: • Who or what is the selection affecting? In other words, what is the topic? • What is the author's main point on this topic? In other words, what is the main implicit idea? Then test your answer by asking: • Does all or most of the material in the paragraph support this idea? Paragraph 1

"Albanian legend adheres to the traditional method of killing a vampire: a stake through the heart as the correct method. 2Legend has it that the Hungarian method of killing a vampire recommends driving a stake through the heart, but insists on driving a nail in the temples too.3Irish style is less colourful, you just have to stack stones on the vampire's grave.“The Macedonians will pour boiling oil on the vampire and then

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drive a nail into his navel. 5Their neighbors, the Serbs, adhered to a variant of this method: they suggested cutting off the toes of the undead and driving a nail into their necks. 6The Saxon legend says that a lemon in the mouth is enough, but in the Prussian legend you have to put poppy seeds in the grave. 7In Poland it was believed that burying the vampire upside down would kill him. 8And from Romania itself, the homeland of the original Dracula, comes one of the most complicated methods: cutting the heart and cutting it in half, putting garlic in the monster's mouth and driving a nail into its head. Which statement best expresses the unspoken main idea of the paragraph? A. Fingernails play an important role in many European legends about the killing of vampires. B. Macedonia and Serbia, two neighboring nations, share similar legends about how to kill vampires. C. Vampires are popular mythical creatures in many European countries. D. Although many European countries have legends about vampires, these countries differ greatly as to the best way to kill a vampire. Paragraph 2

“During the Civil War, soldiers first met in companies of one hundred men and then formed regiments (ten companies). 2 When two or three regiments of 2,000 to 3,000 men were formed, they were called a brigade and then sent into battle. 3 Under the command of a brigadier general, the soldiers formed double lines, advancing along a 1,000-meter front. 4From there, junior officers led the army's charge through clouds of shrapnel, bullets, and thick black powder smoke. 5 Men who panicked or broke the line were often shot by their own officers who stayed behind the advancing line. 6As soon as the advancing army closed in on the enemy, they had to fight through fortifications made of earth and wood. 7 Eventually, if the soldiers got that far, they would have to engage in hand-to-hand combat. 8 Attacker and defender fought until all were killed or wounded, or one side surrendered and fled. Which statement best expresses the unspoken main idea of the paragraph? A. Hand-to-hand combat played an important role in most of the battles of the Civil War. B. A battle during the Civil War followed a clear plan. C. Civil War officers did not sympathize with the frightened soldiers. D. Earthen and wooden fortifications were easy to defend and difficult to attack.

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paragraph 3

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he works homemakm At, i! The M8MI value of cleaning, cooking, caring, shopping, childcare, housekeeping, money management, errands, entertainment, and other services provided by housewives has been estimated at approximately one quarter of GNP. 3In fact, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis has proposed a revision to gross national product that would take into account the value of homemaker services. 4But domestic work is not a formal occupation that generates money or prestige. 5 There is no monetary compensation associated with this position, and the Dictionary of Occupational Titles places parenting and housekeeping skills in the lowest skill category, below the occupation of dog trainer. Which statement best expresses the unspoken main idea of the paragraph? R. We no longer value the work of housewives. B. Housewives must be paid for their work. C. Although cleanliness is essential to the economy, it brings neither money nor prestige. D. It is better to be a dog trainer than a housewife. Paragraph 4 “It is against the law for competing companies to agree to fixed prices instead of setting competitive prices for their products or services. 2However, executives of companies convicted of price fixing often argue that their illegal price fixing is anything but criminal. 3 They claim that they have actually done a valuable purpose for the country's economy by "stabilizing prices." 4 They congratulate themselves on effectively helping their businesses through the “break-even point”. 5 Another breed of white-collar criminals, corporate fraudsters, tend to define their theft as "borrowing" and insist that they really intended to repay the money. 6 Employees who steal inventory from their businesses feel like they're not actually stealing because businesses can recoup losses by using them as tax deductions and charging customers higher prices. “After all, tax fraudsters see themselves more as victims than perpetrators. 8 They argue that they simply had the bad luck of being caught doing something that can hardly be considered wrong “because everyone is doing it”. Which statement best expresses the unspoken main idea of the paragraph? A. White collar crime often results in increased costs for customers. B. Tax cheats are a common type of white collar criminal. C. White collar criminals see themselves as respectable people rather than common criminals. D. White collar crime is less damaging to society as a whole than other types of crime.

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Putting Implicit Key Thoughts Into Your Own Words When reading, you often need to infer the author's unspoken key idea—figure it out for yourself. The main implicit idea that comes to mind should cover all or most of the details of the paragraph. See if you can find and write the topic of the paragraph below. Then write the main implicit idea in your own words. Finally, read the explanation below. Tips: Remember that you can help yourself identify the theme and main idea by 1) looking for repeated words as you read and 2) trying to highlight important supporting details. Important details are often noted with common suffixes such as: suffixes

one first for one thing

to start another second too

furthermore next

last last finally

A common misconception about sleepwalking is that sleepwalkers float like ghosts with their arms outstretched. 2 The fact is that most sleepwalkers walk quite normally, although their eyes are often closed or glassy. 3It is also commonly believed that a sleepwalker should never be awakened. 4But it is advisable to do this when the walker seems to be in imminent danger, for example, when he approaches an open window or is handling a sharp object. 5 Another common misconception is that sleepwalkers are not “properly” or only half asleep. 6 In fact, they are in a state of very deep sleep. 7A final widely held belief is that sleepwalkers are easy to spot because they wear nightgowns or pajamas. 8 This is often not true because sleepwalkers can perform routine tasks, such as getting fully dressed. What is the topic of this paragraph? What is the implied main idea of this paragraph?

Explanation:

A clue to the theme here is the word sleepwalker repeated throughout the paragraph. The other key to the topic is the important details of the paragraph. Two of the details are marked with additional words (one in "Another Common Misconception" and the last in "One Last Common Belief"). Here are the three main details in this paragraph: • Sleepwalkers float like ghosts. • Sleepwalkers don't really sleep • Sleepwalkers are easy to spot.

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What do these three important details have in common? They are all beliefs about sleepwalkers, so this sentence can be considered the theme. And the author's main point on this topic could be formulated like this: There are several misconceptions about sleepwalkers.

Exercise 3 Enter the subject of each paragraph in the spaces provided. Then, in your own words, write the main implicit ideas of the paragraphs. Tips: 1. Remember that it often helps to look for repeated words in a paragraph to find the topic. 2. Remember that marking important supporting details as you read can help you identify the theme and main idea. These important details are often signaled with adjectives as common as those shown in the box on the previous page.

"One reason to lie is to save face. For example, you might pretend to remember someone at a party to save that person from the embarrassment of being forgotten. 3A second reason to lie is to avoid tension or conflict. 4You might say, for example, that you really like a friend's new haircut or outfit to avoid the anger that would arise if you expressed your true feelings.5Lies are also told to keep everyday relationships running smoothly.6You can pretend to be pleased of seeing someone you don't like, or you may feign interest in someone's boring stories just to make a social event go by quickly.7Another reason to lie is to increase or decrease relationships.8In one study, most students college students willingly lied to improve their chances of dating an attractive partner."Sometimes people lie to reduce interaction with others: 'I really don't I have to go. 10I should be studying for an exam tomorrow.” nThe last reason to lie is to gain power. I2A person might turn down a last-minute request for an appointment by claiming to be busy, effectively saying, "Don't expect me to sit around waiting for her to call." Topic: Implicit main idea:

“Many people think that children without siblings are lucky because they get material goods and attention. 2But remember that an only child has no privacy: parents always feel entitled to know everything that happens in their lives. 3A second disadvantage of being a

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Only child is the lack of certain advantages that children with siblings have. 4 An only child can never blame a brother for something that goes wrong, nor ask for a privilege that was once granted to an older brother or sister. 5Furthermore, only children miss the company of siblings. 6The result can be loneliness and difficulty making friends later in life because they have never learned to get along with a brother or sister. Topic: Implicit main idea:

“Some people have spoken out against the death penalty on religious grounds. 2The Quakers, for example, were the first to introduce prison sentences to abolish torture and executions. 3Others have opposed the death penalty on racial grounds, since African-Americans were executed more often than whites. 4Some have even argued that executions actually increase murder by brutalizing public awareness of the value of life. 5 Still others point to social science research that seems to show that the death penalty does not deter murder. 6 If that is true, they say, there is no good reason to risk the execution of an innocent man. Topic: Implicit main idea:

“If you are afraid of growing old, remember that Sigmund Freud published his first important work on the interpretation of dreams at the age of 44; Henry Kissinger was appointed Secretary of State at the age of 50; and Rachel Carson finished their classic book on environmental damage, Silent Spring, at 55. 2 “If you keep reading, thinking, and creating throughout your life, your intelligence will increase,” says a medical researcher. 3Many people's mental health also tends to improve as they age. 4Young people often protect their feelings with defenses such as denial and impulsive actions. 5In middle age, we tend to use constructive defenses such as humor, altruism and creativity. 6Over time, aging will make you more "yourself" as new or unexplored aspects of your personality emerge. 7As actress Candice Bergen wrote in her autobiography, “It takes a long time to become a person.” Topic: Implicit main idea:

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CENTRAL POINTS U as paragraph otS a main j f a, 80 a l O i P s*tiOIl tltS | C O l M M, 3lS0 known as the central point or thesis. The longer selection can be an essay, an article, or even a section within a chapter of a textbook. The central point can be clearly stated or implied. You can find a focal point the same way you find a main idea: by looking for a theme (which is often suggested in the title of a longer selection) and by considering supporting material. Paragraphs within the longer reading provide supporting details for the main point. The following essay establishes the central point. See if you can find it and underline it. Then, in the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Disappointment “Ben Franklin said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. However, he left out one thing: disappointment. 3 No one passes through life without many disappointments. 4But many people seem unprepared for disappointment, responding with depression or flight rather than using it as an opportunity to grow. 5 Depression is a common negative response to disappointment. 6 Yvonne, for example, has been working hard in her department for over a year trying to get a promotion. She 7 she is so sure that she will get it that she has already chosen the car that she is going to buy if she gets the raise. 8 However, the boss appoints one of her employees on the spot. 9The fact that everyone else in the department tells Yvonne that she really deserves her promotion doesn't help her deal with the bitter disappointment. 10 Deeply depressed, Yvonne decides that all of her goals are doomed to fail. “She loses enthusiasm for her job and can barely bring herself to show up every day. l2She tells herself she's a failure and that doing a good job isn't worth it.” Another negative response to disappointment is to run away. l4Kevin doesn't show up at the college his brother attends, the college that was the center of all his dreams, and he responds to his disappointment by escaping his circumstances.15Why bother about college?16Instead, he covers up his true feelings by leaving putting aside her schoolwork and immersing herself fully in friends, parties, and "good times."17O Linda doesn't make the college basketball team, something she really wants, and therefore refuses to play sports.l8She decides to date a new set of friends who get high every day, so she doesn't have to face her disappointment and learn to live with it.19 The positive way to respond to disappointment is to use it as an opportunity for growth.20Don't e It's easy, but it's the only sensible way to deal with an inevitable part of life. 2lYvonne, the woman who was not promoted, was able to 2

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They overcame their disappointment by looking for other options. 22If your boss doesn't recognize talent and hard work, maybe you could move to another department. 23 Or she could ask the boss how she could improve her performance to be a candidate for the next promotion. 24Kevin, the young man who did not get into the university of her choice, must look for other schools. 25 Going to another college may encourage him to be himself, to step out of his brother's shadow and realize that being rejected by a college is not a final judgment on his abilities or potential. 26Instead of giving up drugs, Linda could spend a year improving her basketball skills or learning another sport, like swimming or tennis, that might be more useful to her as an adult. 27 Disappointments are not welcome but they are regular visitors 28 in everyone's life. The best response is to walk past the unwanted visitor at the front door and get on with life. is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point. Explanation:

The central point is a general statement that covers all or most of the details of a reading. To find the main point of the above essay, first find its topic. Since the title is "disappointment" and each paragraph deals with that topic, we can say that "disillusionment" is the topic. Then decide what is said on the subject by looking at the key details of the essay. The first important detail presented in paragraph 2 deals with a negative reaction to disappointment: depression. The second important detail discussed in paragraph 3 concerns another negative response to disappointment: the desire to escape. Then paragraph 4 explains a positive response to disappointment, using it as an opportunity for growth. The focal point will then be a statement that covers the two negative reactions and the one positive reaction to disappointment. As is often the case, the central point is established at the beginning of the essay, in the first paragraph. The last sentence of this paragraph, sentence 4, mentions responding to disappointment with depression or flight, or using it as an opportunity to grow, so this sentence takes center stage.

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Exercise 4 HeaJ L after selection M a Moly 1 l e xl M . £ee si yl 11 lU tf underline the clearly established central point that covers most of the supporting detail. Then, in the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Housewives in 19th-Century America “For many people, the image of women in films about the Old West is that of a kindly mother quietly tending her kitchen, shopping at the general store, and raising the children of her mother. she. 2 In fact, the days of a housewife in 19th century America were spent in hard physical labor. Even preparing a simple meal was a task that consumed time and energy. 4Before the 20th century, cooking was done in coal or wood stoves. 5 Unlike an electric or gas stove, which can be turned on with a single switch, cast iron and steel stoves were particularly difficult to operate. 6 housewives would first have to remove the ashes from previous fires. 7 Then paper and wood had to be placed in the oven, the valves and flues carefully adjusted, and a fire built. 8 Since there were no thermostats to regulate the oven's temperature, a woman had to watch the appliance throughout the day. 9Every time the fire went out, she had to adjust a vent or add more fuel. Each day the furnace had to be fed with fresh supplies of coal or wood, fifty pounds or more on the average. n At least twice a day the ashtray had to be emptied under the fire. 12A11 together, a housewife spent four hours every day rubbing the stove with thick black wax to keep it from rusting, lighting the fire, adjusting the dampers, sifting the ash, and hauling in firewood or coal. 13 It was not enough that a housewife could operate a cast-iron stove. 14I also needed to know how to prepare unprocessed foods for consumption. 15Before the 1890s, few factory-made foods existed. 16 buyers bought live poultry and then had to slaughter and pluck the birds. 17 fish had to be scaled. 18Green coffee had to be roasted and ground. Nineteen loaves of sugar had to be crushed, the flour sifted, the walnuts shelled, and the seeds removed from the raisins. 20 Cleaning was even more difficult than cooking. 21 Soot and smoke from the coal and wood stoves discolored the walls and soiled the curtains and carpets. 22Gas and kerosene lamps left stinking deposits of black soot on furniture and drapes. 23Every day the glass chimneys of the lamps had to be cleaned and the wicks cut or changed. 24And from time to time the floors had to be washed, the rugs shaken and the windows washed. 25 Because sanitation was only available to the wealthy, water-related jobs were particularly demanding. 26The mere task of bringing water into the interior was a challenge. 27According to calculations

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Established in 1886, a typical North Carolina housewife had to carry water from a pump or well or spring eight to 10 times a day. 28 Washing, cooking and rinsing a single load of laundry used about fifty liters of water. 29 Over the course of a year, she ran 140 miles carrying more than 36 tons of water! 30Houses without running water also lacked the easiest option for disposing of dirty water: sinks with drains. 3, This meant that women had to hand-scoop dirty dishwater, kitchen waste, and, most importantly, the contents of urinals from their homes. is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point. >=• Exercise 5 Read the following selection from a sociology textbook. Find and underline the clearly identified central point that covers most of the supporting detail. Then, in the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Excessive alcohol consumption Moderate alcohol consumption can bring social benefits, such as relaxation and recreation with others. 2However, excessive alcohol consumption contributes to a number of negative social consequences. 3One is a relatively high rate of auto accidents, the leading cause of death among youth in the United States. 4More than half of annual traffic deaths and injuries are due to excessive alcohol consumption. 5 As the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has found, “Most people who are killed in traffic accidents after drinking…have very high concentrations of alcohol in their blood, on average twice the legally injurious concentration of alcohol. Those involved in car accidents, including fatal ones, are more likely to drink excessively, use illegal drugs, break various traffic laws, enjoy taking risks, and be aggressive or hostile toward others. 7 Excessive alcohol consumption also leads to high rates of other crimes. 8 Offenses include public drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and loitering. 9 Such crimes result in so many arrests that they overburden the criminal justice system. 10Since the 1970s, many problem drinker treatment programs have helped reduce arrests for alcohol-related crimes, but they remain the largest category of arrests today. n The majority (more than 90 percent) of crimes committed by college students are also alcohol related. l2Perpetrators typically commit multiple crimes, including vandalism, fighting, theft, and alcohol abuse. 13 Excessive alcohol consumption also plays a significant, albeit indirect, role in the commission of serious violent crimes, such as B. Manslaughter, aggravated

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assault and violent rape. In fact, alcohol is involved in 42 percent of all violent crime in the United States. ]5Those who commit these crimes seem to use alcohol as an excuse to express their aggression. “So alcohol can become dynamite in the hands of an aggressive person. "According to a study, people with a history of fighting and other aggressive acts were more likely to engage in interpersonal aggression after heavy drinking," is the number in the sentence that identifies the central point.

CHAPTER REVIEW In this chapter you learned the following: • Sometimes authors hint or suggest a main idea without clearly stating it in a sentence. In such cases, you need to figure out that main idea by considering the supporting details. • To find key points, which may be stated or implied, in longer reading samples, you should review the supporting material. The next few chapters, Chapters 5 and 6, explain common ways that authors organize their material.

•

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On the Internet: If you are using this book in your classroom, you can visit our website to practice more on identifying key implicit ideas and the central point. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on online tutorials.

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^"- Review Quiz 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, complete each of the following sentences. 1. If a paragraph does not contain a sentence that states the main idea, say that the main idea is (central, general, implicit)

2. If you are having trouble finding an implied main idea, it may be helpful to first determine the (theme, central point) of the paragraph. 3. After figuring out what you think the main implicit idea of a paragraph is, test yourself by asking, "Does it satisfy all or most of the material in the paragraph?"

this idea?"

4. The "main idea" of a selection of more than several paragraphs is called (theme, central point).

5. The central point is (never, sometimes, always) implicit.

Review Test 2 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of each of the following paragraphs. 1. "Lean yourself against a tree almost anywhere, and the first creature to crawl on you is probably an ant. 2With your eyes on the ground, walk down a suburban sidewalk, or anywhere else, and count the different kinds of animals he sees. 3 Ants will certainly win. 4 British entomologist C.B. Williams once estimated that there were a million trillion insects on Earth at any given time. 5 If, to be conservative, 1 percent of these insects are ants, their total population is ten thousand trillion, with individual workers averaging between one and five milligrams, depending on the species.7 All the world's ants together weigh as much as all humans.A B C. D

Ants are common in the suburbs. There are a large number of ants on earth. There are too many ants in the world. C.B. Williams, the British entomologist, calculated the number of insects that inhabited the earth at one time.

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2. "Some actors and rock stars earn more than 100 times what schoolteachers earn a year. 2We delight in such entertainers, but surely they do no job much more important than teaching and guiding high school students." our nation. 3 In fact, the opposite is true. 4 In addition, professional athletes earn significantly more than firefighters. 5 The first group can bring enjoyable variety to our lives, but the second literally saves lives. 6 Again, there is no doubt that the lowest-paid group, firefighters, make the most important, even essential, contribution to society.Similarly, most couture designers, who can earn as much as $50,000 for a single dress, earn cops by far. 8 Well, we can easily live without costumes (and probably about 99.9 percent of us do), but a society without police would not be livable for any of us A. To the workers of Our society doesn't necessarily pay them based on the importance of their work. B. Teachers earn as much as actors and rock stars. C. High fashion designers should be paid less for their work. D. Entertainment is a valuable and necessary distraction in our society, one that demands a high salary. B. Write the implied main idea of the following paragraphs. 3. “TV is our favorite form of relaxation. 2After a stressful day, it's relaxing to kick back and enjoy a favorite show. 3And, of course, television is entertaining for all ages. 4Movies, video games and cable specials, as well as regular network programming, offer a variety of entertainment for the whole family. 5TV is also justifiably popular because it's informative. 6When history is being made, for example, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, we are often there thanks to television. 7Perhaps the most important advantage of television is that it is a true educational tool. 8From Sesame Street to nature shows on public television, teach in a colorful and engaging way. Main implicit idea:

4. “Lower-class criminals are more likely to get caught than wealthy criminals. 2And once caught, they probably can't afford highly-skilled legal representation. 3When they appear in court, their life histories, which often include dropping out of school, unemployment, divorce, and an apparent lack of responsibility when judged by bourgeois standards, can work against them. 4Therefore lower income

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND THE CENTRAL POINT

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Offenders are likely to be punished more severely than higher-income offenders for the same offence. 5And because they often cannot post bail, low-income offenders often stay in jail cells awaiting trial rather than in the comfort of their own homes. Main implicit idea:

^" Try 3 A again. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the implied main idea of each of the following paragraphs. 1. "When anti-smoking campaigns made teens aware of the risks smoking. The percentage of young people who smoke has dropped from 28 to 20 in the last decade. In addition, pregnancy rates have decreased by 30 percent in schools where students have access to health clinics that offer information and contraceptive kits in schools with comprehensive health education would be less likely to drink alcohol, try drugs, or attempt suicide A. If more schools conducted anti-smoking campaigns, the number of teens who smoke would drop dramatically B. Evidence suggests that programs of health education have a positive impact on the behavior of adolescents since C. clinics Health education has a positive impact in the way people of all ages care for themselves D. One study found that children in schools with extensive health education were less likely to use drugs or attempt suicide. 2. “President John Adams' wife, Abigail, helped him with speeches, public relations, and policymaking. 2Abraham Lincoln's wife, Mary, and Ulysses S. Grant's wife, Julia, advised their husbands on political appointments. 3When Woodrow Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke, his wife Edith became his mediator; She determined what documents he saw and when, she kept senior officials out of his bedroom and relayed his orders. 4Eleanor Roosevelt actively advised her husband Franklin on the New Deal and championed the black cause when it was politically inconvenient. 5 her With her husband confined to a wheelchair, she traveled extensively to observe and inform him about social and economic conditions and New Deal projects. 6Nancy Reagan protected her husband Ronald,

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of those advisers he deemed inadequate, he lobbied him hard in gun control talks and rewrote his speeches. 7 More recently, Hillary Clinton served as one of her husband Bill's top advisors. 8 His powerful role behind the scenes of her led to her own successful campaign for political office. A. Presidents' wives have played a significant role in shaping US political appointments. B. Many presidents' wives have served important social causes. C. Certain presidential wives had great political power, especially when their husbands were ill. D. Many wives of presidents have had significant influence in the government during their husbands' tenure. B. Write the implied main idea of the following paragraph. 3. "If you have trouble getting a good night's sleep, don't have an alcoholic drink before bed. 2Alcohol can certainly blow you away, but it also affects the quality of sleep you'll get. 3This is because it chemically interferes with dreams , an important part of restful sleep.4 Also avoid caffeinated foods and beverages, such as coffee, most teas, colas, and chocolate.5Caffeine can give you energy and make sleep difficult or impossible.6A The best choice before bed is milk, which contains a type of mild protein that induces sleep."Another good tip is to exercise during the day; this can leave you so rested at night that you fall asleep quickly and deeply. 8But avoid doing exercise just before going to bed, as its immediate effects are more uplifting than relaxing. 9Finally, try to get up around the same time every day; This practice helps your body to Establish a solid sleep-wake cycle. Varying your schedule too much can throw your body's "internal clock" out of balance. Main implicit idea:

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND THE CENTRAL POINT

153

C. Read the following selection from a sociology textbook. Find and underline the clearly identified central point that covers most of the supporting detail. Then, in the space provided, write the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Living in poverty Compared to middle-income people, the poor get sick more often, have poorer and more limited health care, and live shorter lives. 2In fact, life is more difficult in almost every way imaginable for people living in poverty. 3The poor have higher rates of mental illness, especially more serious illnesses such as depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. 4They also report lower levels of personal happiness than the non-poor. 5 Children of the poor are at greater risk of dying in infancy and, if they survive, are at greater risk than non-poor children of getting into trouble with the law or becoming pregnant as a teenager. Their education is worse than that of children who are not poor, and they are much less likely to graduate from high school. 7A study showed that in Chicago public schools, where a large proportion of students come from poor families, less than half graduated on time, and of those who did graduate, only one in three could meet reading level. twelfth grade. 8 Poor people spend more of their income on food and shelter than people who are not poor, but are still poorly fed and poorly housed. 9A housing study in southern Illinois found that poor people were much more likely to live in overcrowded housing than the general population, yet 80 to 90 percent of these poor people paid more than the state standard 25 percent of your income for rent. . 10 Poor people are more likely to commit street crimes and become victims of such crimes. “Crime rates are higher in poor neighborhoods, as criminals tend to harass those who are nearby and available. 12 As a result, a disproportionate number of victims of robbery, assault, and murder are poor. 13 14 Summer after summer in big cities, the elderly poor have died of heat-related illnesses because they couldn't afford air conditioning and were afraid to open the windows because of crime. is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point.

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try again 4

Woman is ] Click Hi pi ilcriiif de iipia mi ccmrni ii I, a reading on child cruelty. To help you further strengthen his skills, the reading is followed by questions not only about what he has learned in this chapter, but also what he has learned in previous chapters.

Words to Watch For Below are some words from the reading that do not have strong contextual support. Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). simulate (1): mimic moldy (3): stale-smelling or musty-smelling tread (5): heavy and tired walking hum (6): mostly mocked (6): mocked and offended step (7): something touchingly sinister ( 7) : distracted evil (9): interested in something else stoic (13): emotionless vulnerable (25): helpless

ROW THE BUS Paul Logan 1

When I was in elementary school, some older kids let me row the bus. Rowing meant sitting in the dirty aisle of the bus littered with papers, gum, and wads of paper on the way to school. Then I had to simulate the rowing motion while the kids around me laughed and sang, "Row, row, row the bus." I was forced to do this by a group of bullies who spent most of their time pestering me. I was the perfect target for her. I was little. I had no father. And although my mother worked hard to support me, she couldn't buy clothes.

and sneakers that were "cool". Instead, she dressed me in clothes we got from "the bags," used items that were donated to a local church. Every Wednesday she would bring several sacks of clothing, bringing out moldy, wrinkled shirts and worn bell-bottoms that other families no longer wanted. I knew that people loved to give us gifts, but I hated wearing clothes that could have been donated by my classmates. Every time I took something out of my pockets, I was afraid that the other children would recognize something that once belonged to them.

IMPL

Aside from my old-fashioned clothing, I wore thick glasses, squinted, and spoke with a persistent lisp. For some reason she had never learned to pronounce "s" correctly, and she pronounced words that started with "th" as if they started with "d". Also, because of my severely crossed eyes, I lacked the hand-eye coordination necessary to punch or catch flying objects. As a result, footballs and baseballs, soccer balls, and basketballs became my enemies. I knew before stepping on the field or court that I was going to do something clumsy or stupid and that everyone would laugh at me. I was so afraid of humiliation that I became adept at faking sick so I wouldn't go to gym class. Eventually, I learned to have a low fever so the nurse would text me an apology. It worked for a while before gym teachers took notice. If he had to play, he was always the last one picked for a team. In fact, the team captains did everything they could to make their opponents stay with me. When the unfortunate captain was forced to say my name, he would drag me back to the crew, knowing that no one liked or wanted me. For four years, from second to fifth grade, I prayed to God every night to give me days at school where I wouldn't feel offended, embarrassed, or embarrassed. I thought my prayers were answered when my mom decided to move in the summer before sixth grade. The move meant that she was in the sixth grade at a different school where she did not have a good reputation. Although the older kids laughed and yelled at me as soon as I got on my new bus, they couldn't help but notice my thick glasses and strange clothing, I soon discovered that another kid was getting the worst of it.

JED MAIN IDEAS AND KEY POINT

insults His name was George and everyone made fun of him. The children made fun of him for being skinny; They berated him for having acne that marked and stained his face, and made fun of him because his voice was squealing. During my first PE class at my new school, I wasn't the last one chosen to play kickball; George was. George tried very hard to be my friend and came up to me in the cafeteria on the first day of school. "Hello. My name is George. Can I sit with you?" she asked with a peculiar squeak that made every word shrill and harsh. When I nodded for her to sit down, there was an awkward silence in the cafeteria, already that many of the students who had made fun of George's clumsy walk during gym class began to stare and whisper among themselves.By letting him sit with me, I had violated an unspoken school law, a sinister childhood code that requires that there's always someone to annoy. I began to realize two things. If I befriended George, I'd soon get the same treatment I got at my old school. If I stayed away from him, I might have a chance to escape the abyss. Within a few days, the kids started making fun of us every time we were together.“Who's your new little friend, Georgie?” In the hallways, groups of students started gossiping about me, often enough. enough for me to hear, "Look, he's George's ugly friend." On bus rides to and from school, the bigger and older kids in the back of the bus would throw wadded paper and wet gum at me. It became clear that my friendship with George would bring me a few more years of misery at my new school. I decided not to be friends anymore.

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with Jorge I spent less and less time with him in class and at lunch.

Sometimes he would say that mm1 was too busy to talk; other times he would act distracted and respond with a word to everything he said. Our classmates, feeling that they had created a rift between George and me, intensified their attacks on him. With each passing day, George grew more desperate as he realized that the only person he could keep from completely isolating himself was isolating him. He knew that he shouldn't help it, that he had felt this way for so long, but he was so afraid that my life was going to be hell like my old school, that I kept ignoring him. Then one day during recess, the meanest kid in school, Chris, decided that he had had enough of George. He swore that he would beat up George and anyone who claimed to be his friend. A mob of children formed and chased me. Chris stepped forward and cornered me near the swings at our school. He grabbed my shirt and raised his fist over my head. A huge group of kids surrounded us and urged him to hit me, yelling "Come on Chris, come on!" You're Georgie's new little friend, right? he yelled he. The hot gust of his breath carried droplets of his saliva to my face. In complete betrayal of the only son who was kind to me, I denied George's friendship. "No, I'm not George's friend. I don't like him. He's stupid," I blurted out. Several kids giggled and muttered under their breath. Chris looked at me for a few seconds, then pushed me to the ground. Swim. Where's George? he demanded and stood over me.Someone pointed to George sitting alone on it.

OF SKILLS

the swing about thirty meters from our location. He looked at me. Lnns ana his to owers, OVef ran towards George and threw him from the bars to the ground. Although the crowd quickly surrounded them, he could still see the two of them in the middle of the crowd, looking at each other. George seemed stoic, looking right through Chris. I heard the familiar chant of "Go, Chris, go!" and he saw how his fists began to pound George's head and body. With a bloody face and a broken nose, George fell to the ground sobbing without even throwing a punch. The crowd cheered with delight and rushed to the playground to prevent a teacher from approaching. Chris was suspended and after 14 days George went back to school. I wanted to talk to him, ask how he was, apologize for leaving him alone and not try to stop him from getting hurt. But I couldn't get close to him. Ashamed of disowning George and angry at my own cowardice, I never spoke to him again. A few months later, without telling the students, George transferred to another school. Every once in a while, in the last few weeks before he left, I would catch him looking at me while he was sitting in the cafeteria with the other kids. He never yelled at me or expressed anger, disappointment, or even sadness. Instead, he just looked at me. In the years that followed, George's silent gaze stayed with me. It was there in eighth grade that I saw a gang of popular kids beat up a sixth grader for calling him "ugly and stupid." It was my freshman year of high school when I saw a group of older kids steal the clothes of another freshman and

IMPL

21 22

Throw them in the showers. It was there a year later that I saw several old men put gum in the hair of a new girl on the bus. Every time I saw another awkward, awkward, terrified child being tormented, I thought of George, and little by little his intense gaze began to speak to me. He didn't shut up anymore, he told me that every child who is teased and teased deserves better, that no one, no matter how big, strong, attractive or popular, has the right to abuse another person. Finally, when a loud, pink-skinned bully named Donald started picking on two freshmen on the bus my junior year, I couldn't deny George any longer. Donald was wadding a big wad of paper into a ball and getting ready to bounce it off the back of the head of one of the young students when I stopped him. "Leave her alone, Don," I told him. At the time, he was six inches taller and after two years of high school wrestling, he was 30 pounds heavier than he was in my freshman year. Although Donald was still two years older than me, he wasn't much taller. He stopped what he was doing, narrowed his eyes and stared at me. "What's your problem, Pablo?" I felt like I was on the playground many years ago when I saw the herd of kids begin to surround George. "Just leave her alone. They don't bother you," I replied softly. "What does it mean to you?" he challenged him. A glimpse of my own past came to mind, how I rowed the bus, how I was teased about my clothes, my lisp, my glasses and my absent father.

JED MAIN IDEAS AND KEY POINT

Just don't mess with them. That's all I'm saying, Don. My fingertips tingled. The bus was silent. He got up from his seat and leaned over me, and I rose from my seat to face him. For a minute we both just stood there without saying a word, looking at each other. "I'm just playing with them, Paul," he said, laughing. "You don't have to go crazy with me or anything." Then he shook his head, hit my chest hard with the back of his hand, and sat up. But he never threw away that wad of paper. For the rest of the year, when I was on the bus, Don and the other troublemakers were remarkably quiet. Even though years have passed since my days on the playground and on the school bus, George's gaze still haunts me. Today I see it in the faces of some scared children at my sister's school, she is in fifth grade. Or occasionally I catch a glimpse of someone like George on the evening news, in a story about a kid who brought a gun to school to keep kids from messing with him, or in a story about a teenager. that he committed suicide because everyone made fun of her. In every school, in almost every classroom, there is a bruised-faced George hoping that someone close to him is strong enough to be kind, no matter what the crowd says, and brave enough to stand up to the odds. people who attack, annoy or hurt those who do it. they are vulnerable0. I'm sure if bullies were asked about their behavior they would say, "What's your problem? It's just a joke. It's nothing." But for George and me and everyone else who's been humiliated or laughed at or spat at, that's it. No one should have to row the bus.

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reading comprehension questions

'LmUxt Vocabulary 1. In the following sentence, the word pretend (fan) means A. escape. B pretend C. D. Cured. “I was so afraid of humiliation that I became an expert at faking illness to escape gym class.” (Paragraph 5) 2. In the following excerpt, the word Rift means A. Friendship. B. Agreement, c. interruption. joke D. "I decided to stop being friends with George... Our classmates, feeling that they had created a rift between George and me, intensified their attacks on him." (Paragraph 9) Keynotes 3. Sometimes a keynote can have more than one paragraph inclusion. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of paragraph 2^1? A. The first sentence of paragraph 2 B. The first sentence of paragraph 3 C. The first sentence of paragraph 4 D. The first sentence of paragraph 5 4. The main clause of paragraph 8 is its A. first sentence. B. second sentence. C. third sentence. D. last sentence. Supporting Details 5. When Chris attacked George, George responded by hitting him back hard. B. Call Logan for help. C. flee. D. take the beating.

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6. Logan finally found the courage to stand up for abused students when he saw A. Donald throw paper at a younger student. B. Older kids throwing freshman clothes in the showers. C. Seniors sticking gum in a new student's hair. D. A gang beating up a sixth grader they didn't like. Central Point 7. Which sentence best expresses the central point of the election? A. Although Paul Logan was abused by other students when he was a child, his attacks stopped as he got older and stronger. B. When Logan transferred to another school, he discovered that another student, George, was being bullied more than he was. C. Logan's experience of being bullied and his embarrassment at the way he treated George eventually led him to speak up for someone else who was being teased. D. Logan is embarrassed that he did not stand up for George when a bully attacked him on the playground. Main Implied Ideas 8. Which sentence best expresses the main implied ideas of paragraph 5? A. Due to Logan's clumsiness, the gym was a miserable experience for him in elementary school. B. Because Logan hated the gym so much, he made excuses to avoid it. C. The gym teacher understood Logan's excuses. D. Logan knew that other students did not want him on his team when the games were played. 9. Which sentence best expresses the implied main idea of paragraph 6? A. Logan's mother moved so Logan could have a fresh start at a new school. B. Even at the new school, the students laughed at Logan's performance. C. Riding the bus was the worst part of Logan's school experience. D. When Logan started his new school, he discovered that a student named George was less popular than him. 10. Which sentence best expresses the implied main idea of paragraph 16? A. Older children were often cruel to younger students in Logan schools. B. Because of what happened with George, Logan became increasingly annoyed when students made fun of each other. C. During Logan's freshman year of high school, some students threw freshman clothes in the shower. D. In school, Logan learned a lot about how people behave in different situations in life.

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discussion questions

1. Paul Logan titled his selection "Rowing the Bus." However, very little of the essay is actually about the incident described in the title, just the first and last paragraphs. Why do you think Logan chose that title? 2. Logan wanted to be nice to George, but even more he wanted to be accepted by the other students. Have you ever been in a similar situation, where you wanted to do the right thing but felt the price was too high? Explain what happened. 3. Logan refers to "a creepy childish code that dictates that there must always be someone to annoy." Why do children need someone to choose? 4. The writer Henry James once said: “Three things are important in human life. The first thing is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind. What do you think schools or concerned adults could do to encourage young people to treat each other with kindness instead of cruelty?

Note: To write tasks for this selection, see page 587.

See your performance activity

IMPLIED KEY IDEAS/KEY POINT Correct Number

Points

score

repeat test 1

(5 item)

repeat test 2

(4 Article)

7,5 =

try again 3

(4 Article)

7,5 =

Repeat test 4 (10 items)

TOTAL SCORE

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Data X 25 =

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND KEY POINT: Mastery Test 1 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the main implied idea of each of the following paragraphs. 1. "Many people think there is no difference between an alligator and a crocodile. 2However, the alligator's snout is shorter and broader than that of the crocodile. 3An even more dramatic difference between the two creatures is how dangerous they are to humans. humans. 4 There are very few documented cases of alligators killing a person. 5 On the other hand, crocodiles, especially those found along the Nile, are quite dangerous to humans. 6 It is even said that when it comes to killing people, crocodiles are second only to venomous snakes A B C. D

Venomous snakes are more dangerous to humans than crocodiles. Many people believe that alligators and crocodiles are the same thing. There are clear differences between alligators and crocodiles. Alligators are not particularly dangerous to humans.

2. “Intellectual curiosity is a desire to know simply for its own sake, not to get a good grade, pass a test, earn a diploma, or get a job. intellectual curiosity prevents boredom and apathy, and boring and apathetic people are boring people, to themselves and to others. 3 Such curiosity also broadens our horizons. 4If we seek only the knowledge we think we need for "success," our options will be limited. 5 Furthermore, the curiosity of the mind makes us versatile. 6People with broad knowledge and interests can change the course of their work and activities when necessary, which is entirely possible given the rapid pace of change in our world, or when they simply want to. 7Finally, although practicality is not your goal, intellectual curiosity can have practical benefits; At any given moment, any kind of knowledge can be useful for our happiness and growth in life. [A. Intellectual curiosity has many benefits. B~. Intellectual curiosity prevents boredom and apathy. C. People with intellectual curiosity can change jobs if they want or need to. D. Intellectual curiosity has practical benefits. [/

3. “Children in Finland are the best young readers in the world, but they also spend more time watching TV than reading. 2A Finnish national research coordinator has pointed out a key relationship between reading and Finnish television: “Many programs have subtitles and watching them seems to motivate and encourage young students to read”. page) 161

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Television consists of foreign TV shows and movies whose subtitles must be read, and quickly, for the programs to be understood. T: Innian 9-year-olds want to earn their reading so they can understand it, so watch a moderate crowd.

A B C. D.

Children in Finland are the best young readers in the world. Finnish television is very different from television in the United States. Finnish teenagers watch less television than younger children. Captioned television seems to help children learn to read.

B. (4.) The author has formulated the central point of the following selection of textbooks in one sentence. He finds and underlines this sentence. Then, in the space provided, he writes the number of the sentence that contains the center point. A vulnerable way of life “Small towns across the United States are in crisis and the quality of life for their citizens is declining. 2 In 1950, about 36 percent of Americans lived in small towns and rural areas; In 1990 it was only 25 percent. 3Young people (particularly those with higher education) move, often leaving their parents behind. 4As a result, rural America is aging. 5 Economic life in rural America is also grim. 6Because many small towns are dependent on a single employer, their economies are fragile. 7 Also, if there are more people than jobs, employers can only pay the minimum wage. 8The youth poverty rate in rural areas has more than doubled in the past two decades, and the unemployment rate is twice the national average. “Health care in rural America is deteriorating. 10Of the three hundred hospitals that have closed in recent years, more than half were in small towns. “The rural doctor is also disappearing. ,2Many small towns have only one part-time doctor serving several communities, and some have no doctor at all. 13 Small Town Schools Have Problems, Too Educating students individually often becomes prohibitively expensive, and many small school districts have had to merge.15 In consolidated school districts, students may have to travel fifty miles round trip to school every day.16 The crisis in rural America is taking its toll on the mental health of its residents.17 A recent study of Iowa farmers found that one in three suffered from depression.18 Another study of rural youth found they were much more prone to depression and suicidal thoughts than their counterparts

is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Given x 25 =

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND KEY POINT: Mastery Test 2 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the main implied idea of each of the following paragraphs. 1. “While talking to someone, you can easily gather clues about how much they understand or agree with you and adjust your conversation accordingly. 2But when you write, you should try to anticipate the reader's reactions without those signals. 3You must also provide stronger evidence in writing than in an interview. 4A friend may accept a blank statement such as "He's a lousy boss." 5But in writing, the reader expects you to back up such a statement with evidence. A. There are special techniques to communicate verbally with others. B. Speaking and writing are challenging ways to communicate. C. Effective written communication is more challenging than oral communication. D. When you speak, you get feedback on a person's reaction, which helps make your conversation more effective. 2. “A lot of people dream of being a celebrity, but do they think about what life as a celebrity is really like? For one thing, celebrities always have to look their best. 3There's always a photographer willing to take an unflattering photo of a chubby-looking celebrity in old clothes. 4Celebrities also sacrifice their personal lives. - "Their personal struggles, divorces or family tragedies end up on the front pages. Frighteningly, celebrities are constantly at risk of receiving the wrong kind of attention, threatening letters and even physical attacks from angry fans are things that the celebrity has to deal with" . A. Many people dream of being famous C fi. Being famous is often hard ~ C. Being famous always means having to look good D. Celebrities face dangers 3. "Of the murders committed by According to the FBI, more than a third were committed by one family member against another. 2 Three percent relate to the murder of a child by a parent.3 Parental aggression toward children also takes a less drastic form.4 Two million children each year are kicked, punched, or hit by His parents." Aggression also appears in marriages.6Each year, four million husbands and wives violently attack each other.7These attacks result in serious injury in a quarter of a million cases.A. Parental abuse of children is widespread in the United States B. Assault is a part of many marriages in this country C. Domestic violence is on the rise in the United States D. In the United States, assault is often directed at partners of the family.

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B. (4.) The author has formulated the central point of the following psychology article in one sentence. He finds and underlines this sentence. Then write the number in the space provided

of the sentence containing the central point. Missing Persons “Many of the world's girls and women are missing from schools. 2 In sub-Saharan Africa, only six girls for every ten boys attend secondary school; in South Asia, only four. 3In these regions, three-quarters of women aged 25 and over remain illiterate. 4One of the main reasons girls drop out of school is because they are married, often to older men, and start having children in their teens. 5Some are sold by their parents to prostitution rings where girls are sought after because they are considered less likely to be infected with the AIDS virus. 6 Women are absent from the labor force. 7Women work the same or more than men (a global average of thirteen hours more per week). 8 But the work that women do: take care of children; provide food and medical care for their families; garden and livestock maintenance; crop processing; gather firewood and carry water; weaving of cloth, rugs and baskets; and selling homegrown food and crafts at local markets, which is not considered “real” work. 9 When women work for wages, they are typically employed in clerical, sales, and service jobs and are excluded from higher-paying jobs in manufacturing, transportation, and management. 10 Even when women do the same work as men, they earn, on global average, 30 to 40 percent less. “Women are absent from the corridors of power, politics and decision-making. ,2 Although women make up more than half of the world's population, less than 5 percent of heads of state, corporate executives, and directors of international organizations are women. 13 women are missing from the battlefield, but tragically they are not among the ranks of the dead and wounded. 14 In today's many ethnic and civil wars around the world, hostile factions fight over cities and civilians are caught in the crossfire. 15 Hundreds of thousands of women and children have been left widows, orphans and refugees.” War or no war, women around the world are sexually abused, physically injured, and even killed simply because they are women. 17In 1987, 1,786 “dowry deaths” were recorded in India, where a woman was killed by her husband and/or family because her dowry was insufficient. 18 In Thailand, more than 50 percent of married women living in Bangkok's largest squatter settlement reported that their husbands regularly beat them. 19 It was not until 1991 that the Brazilian Supreme Court prohibited "defense of honor," which excused a man who had murdered an adulterous wife because he was defending her honor. 20 All over the world, women are clearly second-class citizens and worse. •TM--

is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Given x 25 =

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND KEY POINT: Mastery Test 3 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the main implied idea of each of the following paragraphs. JrT” 1. “The most basic cry of a baby consists of a rhythmic pattern that begins with a cry, followed by a brief silence and a shorter, higher-pitched whistle. 2Experts believe that basic crying is triggered by hunger, fatigue, or mild discomfort. “Investigators have also identified a scream of rage. 4Slightly more powerful than the basic cry, the rage cry involves large volumes of air rushing over the baby's vocal cords. 5 That sound can be made when a baby wants to be picked up and is not picked up, or when a baby is placed in a crib when she wants to be held. 6A third type of cry that babies use is the cry of pain. 7 A sudden loud howl followed by a prolonged breath hold, the cry of pain is the loudest sound a baby can make. A B C D

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Babies have three different cries to communicate what they feel. The cry of pain is the loudest sound a baby can make. Babies communicate differently at different ages. Experts believe that hunger, fatigue, or just being a little unwell can cause basic crying.

2. “Early humans probably used the elongation and contraction of shadows on the ground to measure the passage of time. 2 Later the sundial was invented to show time more accurately, but still using the principle of shadow. 3The hourglass, a more recent invention, measured time by dropping grains of sand from one container to another. 4A primitive clock was invented around the year 1300. 5It had only one hour hand, but it became the most accurate way of telling time to date. 6Since then, watches have been technically improved so that the accuracy of today's watches can be trusted. A. Throughout history, people have found better and better ways to measure the passage of time. B. The hourglass is a somewhat more recent invention than the sundial. C. The first methods to measure the passage of time took advantage of the changing shadows cast by the sun throughout the day. D. A primitive clock, invented around 1300, was the most accurate way of telling time up to that time. 3. “Both the young and the old are often marginalized from the rest of society: young people are isolated in schools and many older people in senior communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. 2In addition, both groups tend to be poorer than young adults or middle-aged people: the young because they do not yet have the education or experience to earn high wages, and the elderly because they are retired and living off their savings and Social Security. 3 Third, independence is important to both groups: they consciously want it, while young adults and middle-aged people take it for granted. 4 young people want to become independent from their parents; the elderly want (continued on next page) 165

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they retain their independence and are not dependent on their children or social institutions. The two of you tend to have a relatively large amount of free time or at least time that you may or may not fill with study or work. 6In contrast, young and middle-aged adults tend to spend most of their time at work or on household responsibilities such as childcare. A. The young and old value their independence more than other social groups. B. Both the young and the old have different economic conditions than young and middle-aged adults. C. Young and middle-aged adults spend much of their time taking care of household chores, such as raising children. D. The young and the old are in some ways very similar as groups in our culture. (4.) The author has formulated the central point of the following selection of textbooks in one sentence. He finds and underlines this sentence. Then, in the space provided, he writes the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Learned helplessness!

A Johns Hopkins University researcher has repeatedly conducted a simple experiment with two rats. 2He he holds a rat tightly in his hand so that no matter how hard the rat struggles, he cannot escape. 3The rat will eventually give up. 4The researcher then drops this motionless rat into a tank of warm water and the rat sinks, not swims. 5He has "learned" that there is nothing he can do, that there is no point in fighting back. 6The researcher then throws another rat into the water, one that does not “know” that his situation is hopeless and that he is therefore helpless. 7This rat will swim to safety. 8 A similar experiment in humans was carried out by Martin E. P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania. 9Two groups of college students are placed in rooms where they are subjected to noise taken to almost unbearable levels. 10In a room there is a button that turns off the noise. “Students are quick to notice, push for it, and are rewarded with blissful silence. 12 In the other room, however, there is no off button. 13 The students search for one, find nothing, and finally give up. 14 There is no question of escaping the noise (other than leaving the room before a preset time has elapsed), so they simply put up with the noise.15 Later, the same two groups are taken to two other rooms.16 This Once, both rooms contain a shutdown mechanism, but this time it's not a simple button and it's not as easy to find. However, the group that found the button the first time managed to find the “switch” the second time. 18 But the second group, already brought up in the hopelessness of their circumstances, doesn't even search, its members are simply left out.19 Both experiments suggest that past failures can teach one to feel powerless and, as a result, to stop trying. try. .20 Your possibility-aware Being can give people the courage to persevere despite previous disappointments.

METRO

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is the number of the sentence that indicates the central point.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Data X 25 =

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND KEY POINT: Mastery Test 4 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the main implied idea of each of the following paragraphs. \Tj

1. The earth is surrounded by a thick layer of gas called the atmosphere. 2 The atmosphere provides the air we breathe and protects us from the intense heat of the sun and dangerous radiation. 3The constant exchange of energy between the atmosphere and space creates the effects we call weather. 4If the Earth, like the Moon, did not have an atmosphere, our planet would not have life and many of the processes and interactions that make the surface such an energetic place could not work. 5 Without erosion or friction, the face of our planet might look more like the lunar surface, which hasn't changed much in nearly three billion years. A. The atmosphere is a thick layer of gas that covers the entire earth. B. The moon, unlike the earth, has no atmosphere and therefore has not changed significantly in nearly three billion years. C. There are many influences on the development of the land. D. The atmosphere is a key element of our environment and processes on Earth.

2. “Baby mammals are born almost helpless. 2 They cannot survive unless cared for, usually by older members of their species. 3 Food and shelter are the most obvious needs of a baby animal. 4But scientists have also noted another, less obvious need for baby mammals. 5 monkeys raised alone, without physical contact with other animals, develop strange habits, such as B. Constantly rocking or spinning. 6Furthermore, they cannot have normal relationships with other apes. 7 Males can rarely breed with females. 8 Giving females ignore or mistreat their young. 9When monkeys reared alone are exposed to friendly "maternal" monkeys who touch and hug them, they eventually develop normal monkey behavior. A. Mammalian babies need food and shelter. B. Studies suggest that touch, like food and shelter, is key to normal mammalian development. C. All animals raised without physical contact with other animals develop strange habits. D. Scientists have conducted studies on monkeys raised without physical contact with other animals.

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B. Write the implied main idea of the following paragraph. 3. "You don't have to scare your family with heart attack statistics. 2To get them to exercise more, emphasize how much better they will feel and look if they exercise every day. 3Another method you can use is to set an example. 4If they see you walking to the grocery store instead of driving, they may be encouraged to do the same the next time they run errands in the neighborhood 5Finally, make exercise a family activity 6. Suggest that the whole family go for a swim board, go for an early morning run, or join the Y for group fare.Main Implicit Idea:

,L_^ (4.) The author has formulated the central point of the following textbook passage in one sentence. He finds and underlines this sentence. Then, in the space provided, he writes the number of the sentence that contains the center point. Teens and Jobs “Today's world puts a lot of pressure on teens to work. 2By working, they gain more independence from their families and also get the pocket money they need to keep up with their peers. 3Many people argue that work can be a valuable experience for young people. 4 However, schoolwork and the benefits of extracurricular activities are more likely to be lost when youth work more than 15 hours a week. - Teachers are then faced with the problem of maintaining the attention of tired students and students who simply do not have time to give homework. 6In addition, educators have noted decreased participation in extracurricular events, which many consider to be healthy influences on youth. 7School bands and sports teams are losing players to work, and working students are rarely attending sporting events. 8Those teens who try to do everything—homework, extracurricular activities, and work—may be exhausted and prone to illness. “Another disadvantage of working too hard is that it can foster materialism and an unrealistic lifestyle. “Some parents say that work teaches children the value of a dollar. You certainly can, and it's true that some teens work to help with the family budget or to save for college. l2But surveys have shown that most working teens spend their income buying luxury items: stereos, cassettes, clothing, and even cars. “These young people, some of whom earn more than $300 a month, don't worry about how to spend their money wisely – they can have almost anything. 14 Experts point out that in many cases they are getting used to a lifestyle that they do not want to be able to afford several years later when they no longer have parents to pay for car insurance, food and housing, etc. At that point, they're going to have a hard time paying for even the bare minimum of luxuries. “•Teens can benefit from both work and school—and avoid the pitfalls of materialism—simply by working no more than fifteen hours a week. 17 As is often the case, a moderate approach is probably the healthiest and most rewarding. i__ is the number of the sentence that specifies the center point.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Date X25 =

MAIN IMPLIED IDEAS AND KEY POINT: Mastery Test 5 A. In the space provided, write the letter of the sentence that best expresses the main implied idea of each of the following paragraphs. 1. “There is no doubt that companies can increase their productivity. 2If all men and machines did it right the first time, the same number of people could handle a much larger volume of work. 3High inspection costs could be channeled into productive activities, and managers could spend all the time they spend inspecting on productive tasks. 4Material waste would be a thing of the past. 5In fact, it's estimated that paying attention to quality can reduce total cost of ownership by 10 to 50 percent. 6As Philip Crosby said: “Quality is free. 7 It's low-quality material that costs money: all the acts of not doing the job right the first time.” A. Philip Crosby is an expert in quality in business. "sg£ It is wasteful to spend so much money on factory inspections. c. Companies can improve their turnover in several ways. f"iO When quality is improved, productivity increases.

2. “In 19th-century America, people shared beds, both at home with relatives and in hotels with strangers, without asking about the health of their bedfellows. 2They traded combs, hairbrushes, and even toothbrushes, and fed babies with their mouths and spoons, unaware of the danger. 3 They coughed, sneezed, and spit without regard for their own health or the health of those around them. They cooked and stored their meals without worrying about foodborne illness. 5They drank unfiltered water from wells and streams, often with a common ladle or drinking cup. 6 Last but not least, they used urinals and outbuildings, regardless of the fate of the contents in relation to the municipal water supply. A. 19th century Americans were friendlier than modern Americans. B. In the United States in the 19th century there was less water pollution than there is today. C. In the United States of the 19th century, people were probably as concerned with health as with survival. D. 19th century Americans exhibited behaviors that could easily spread disease.

B. Write the implied main idea of the following paragraph. 3. “A tip to succeed in exams, according to study experts, is to study regularly every day and every week. 2Another tip is to focus study sessions on the ideas that the teacher highlighted in class. 3Also, use the night before an exam for careful review instead of stressful cramming. 4Then get up a little earlier the next morning and review your notes again. 5Arriving early for an exam is another helpful tip that experts suggest. 6Sit in a quiet place and finish reading the notes. 7Finally, once the test has started, the advice of the experts is to answer the easiest questions first; then go back and tackle the hard stuff (continued on next page) 169

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some. 8And with essay questions, the most productive thing you can do is think for a few minutes and create a short summary before you start writing.

Main implicit idea:

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i-Lfc—, after reading the obituaries, these burglars may "rummage" into a home while the family is at a loved one's funeral. 2. “Whenever something bad happens to me, my grandmother tries to help me. 2When she was depressed after breaking up with my boyfriend, she told me: "We must go through the storm before we see the rainbow, often we must experience sadness for joy." & 3. “Honey bees only attack to protect their hives . 2_ If you run away from the hive when you are attacked, the bees will end up losing interest in you.

4. 'Jr/ There are no clocks in casinos, players can easily lose track of time. 2This is clearly what the casino management wants. 3The longer people stay at the tables or in front of the slot machines, the better. 5. “Most birds are born in one of two very different states. 2Some are born weak, blind, and usually naked. 3 All they can do for themselves is open their mouths to eat. 4\ , other newborn baby birds have bright eyes and are covered in down. 5Once their down is dry, they can peck at things and run after their parents.

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B. Label each item with the letter of its main organizational pattern.

B compare and/or contrast c cause and effect

“Phobias are intense, irrational fears that are out of proportion to the actual danger in a situation. 2For example, people with a fear of open spaces (agoraphobia) are often reluctant to leave their homes. "Bread made with whole wheat flour is whole wheat, but not all black bread is whole wheat bread. 2 Some manufacturers add molasses or honey to white flour dough to give it a brown color and are allowed to label the product as "wheat bread." 3For this reason, it is important to read the package label before buying 8. “Climate is the average weather in a given geographic area 2 Areas can be divided into climatic categories based on their temperature and rainfall throughout the year. 3A swelteringly hot and humid region, for example, would be called a tropical climate.

9. “In the 1890s, most Americans struggled to achieve a middle-class lifestyle. 2 By contrast, by the 1990s, an overwhelming majority had entered the middle class but were either losing it or struggling to maintain it. 3In the 1890s, the government, responding to the urgency of reforming citizens, began to create a framework of rules to control the excesses of giant corporations and protect the interests of the average citizen. 4But in the 1990s, this control framework for large corporations was dismantled. 10. “Prison overcrowding is dangerous because it increases inmate discomfort and creates a climate in which violence is more likely. 2 Riots, escapes and kidnappings are becoming more and more of a problem. 3Overcrowding in prisons also makes it difficult for prison officials and the prison administration to run the prison. 4The consequence is that prisons become more expensive to operate.

name section

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RESULT: (correct number)

X10 =

RELATIONS II: Beherrschungstest 2

Read each paragraph and answer the questions that follow in the spaces provided. A

“The incomes of working- and middle-class Americans took a serious hit in the 1980s. 2 One of the main reasons was the decline in jobs in the industry. 3The economy was less dedicated to the production of goods and more focused on the provision of services. 4Many manufacturing jobs, particularly in the steel and auto industries, have been relocated from the United States to Third World countries. 5 As a result, millions of workers in the Midwest and Northeast were stranded. 6 They were forced to accept much lower-paying jobs with fewer benefits and opportunities for advancement. 1. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. [b. Cause and effect. VI comparison and/or contrast. 2. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph

is A r ^ f P-3 ^ [ ~":.B

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“Children who physically mature early have a distinct advantage over their slower maturing peers. 2Preemies become heroes in sports and leaders in formal and informal activities. 3Other boys look up to them; The girls are in love with her. 4Even adults tend to trust them. 5They are more confident and independent than other children. 6In contrast, their less mature male peers, with their high-pitched voices and underdeveloped bodies, feel inadequate. 7 They are weaker in sports and clumsy with girls. 3. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. B. Cause and effect. C. comparison and/or contrast. 4. The transition indicated by the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

• ,-

“There are often more than two sides to a question, and offering only two options when there are actually more is calling either or error. 2For example, the statement “Either you are with us or you are against us” assumes that there is no middle ground. 3O Consider the following conclusion: the people who are against full free speech are really in favor of censorship. 4This argument ignores the fact that a person can believe in both free speech and the law (continued on next page) 241

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prohibit slander or punish someone for falsely saying "Fire!" in a theater full of people. _ 5. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is ( A. Definition and example. & Cause and effect, c. Compare and/or contrast. 6. The transition that indicates the organization pattern of this paragraph is

“Why does lightning make such a loud noise? 2The answer has to do with the electrical energy it gives off. 3A single bolt can generate up to 3.75 billion kilowatts of electrical power. 4Most of this energy, 75 percent, is converted to heat, causing the temperature of the surrounding air to rise sharply. 5 As hot air expands, the sudden increase in temperature causes the air around the lightning to expand rapidly. 6 And this expansion of the air causes sound waves, thunder, that can be heard eighteen miles away. 7. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. B. Cause and effect. C. comparison and/or contrast. 8. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

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“Humans are different from other primates, but not as much as they would like to think. 2It is true that there are significant differences in size and proportion between humans and other primates. 3And, of course, humans are by far the smartest. However, to take chimpanzees as an example, both they and humans have the same muscles and bones that are in almost the same places and function in the same way. 5The internal organs of both animals are also very similar, as are their blood and other bodily fluids. 6 Even their genes are surprisingly similar under the microscope. 9. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. B. Cause and effect. C. comparison and/or contrast. 10. A transition is a transition that signals the organizational pattern of that paragraph

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

x10

RELATIONSHIPS II: Mastery Test 3 (1-4.) Arrange the following jumbled sentences into a logical paragraph by numbering them 1, 2, 3, and 4 in meaningful order. Then, in the space provided, write the letter of the major organizational pattern that is being used. Keep in mind that transitions help you clarify relationships between sentences.

3 v

High tuition fees also affect the time available to study; Because loans and scholarships are hard to come by, many students have to work long hours to pay for school. ^ For one thing, it certainly discourages some students from going to college.

'-:- After all, those who manage to get credit know that they must start their careers in debt. J; The high cost of college poses problems for many students today in more ways than one. 5. The main organizational pattern is A. Contrast. B. Comparison, c. Cause and effect. ^ef. definition and example. B. Read each paragraph and answer the following questions. “Men and women can interpret women's actions very differently on a date. 2One study found that men interpreted actions such as talking softly or smiling as an indication that the woman was interested in sex. 3Women, on the other hand, were more likely to view the same behaviors as simply friendly. 4Drinking with a man, going to the man's house, or wearing sexy clothes were viewed by men as signs of sexual desire, while women viewed these behaviors as appropriate or fashionable. 6. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. B. Cause and effect. C. comparison and/or contrast. 7. A transition that signals the main organizational pattern of this paragraph is

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“Mass hysteria is a type of group behavior involving widespread and contagious fear, usually the result of a false belief. 2The reaction to

Part of the country in the 1938 radio program The War of the Worlds is an example. sThis dramatization of the Martians landing on Earth was so realistic that people panicked and fled before realizing they were reacting to a radio play. 4Medieval witch hunts are another good example of collective hysteria. They were based on the belief that witches were the cause of many problems in late medieval society, including natural disasters and disease. 6 Those accused of witchcraft (mainly old women) were tortured until they confessed or died. 7 Up to 500,000 people were cremated by clergymen between the 15th and 17th centuries. 8. The main supporting details of the choice are A. Definitions. B caused. C. comparisons, examples. D 9. The main organization pattern of the paragraph is A. Definition and example. B. Cause and effect. C. comparison and/or contrast. 10. The transition signaled by the main organizational pattern of this paragraph is

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Name section SCORE: (correct number)

dice x 10

RELATIONS II: Beherrschungstest 4

A. (1-4.) Arrange the following jumbled sentences into a logical paragraph by numbering them 1, 2, 3, and 4 in meaningful order. Then, in the space provided, write the letter of the major organizational pattern that is being used. Keep in mind that transitions help you clarify relationships between sentences. Ji On the contrary, the original Italian story is the cruel tale of Princess Talia, who falls into a deep magical sleep in the forest, where she is raped by a nobleman and later gives birth to twins, which the nobleman's wife tries to kill. And cook. for dinner. It is often said that fairy tales, with their high doses of terror and violence, scare young children too much.

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Date x10

RELATIONS II: Beherrschungstest 6

A. Read the following paragraph from the textbook. Then answer the question and complete the following diagram. "A researcher has identified five underlying causes of frustration that go beyond everyday anger. 2First, delays are hard to accept because our culture emphasizes the value of time. 3Anyone who's been stuck in traffic knows the frustration of getting there. 4Lack of resources is another source of frustration, especially for low-income Americans who can't afford the new cars or vacations that TV shows and magazine articles lead us to believe everyone needs.5Loss, like the end of a romantic relationship or a treasured friendship, it is frustrating because it often makes us feel powerless, unimportant, and worthless.6Failure is a common source of frustration in our competitive society.7The most difficult aspect of dealing with failure it is guilt.8We imagine that if we had done certain things differently we could have succeeded, and so we feel We are responsible for our own pain and for the disappointment or pain of others. 9Discrimination can also be a source of frustration. “It is immensely frustrating to be denied an opportunity or recognition based solely on gender, age, religion or color, regardless of personal qualifications or achievements. Example B. Compare and/or Contrast rcS Cause and Effect 2-6 Complete the paragraph outline by writing the top five supporting details Key Note: There are five causes of frustration that go beyond the supporting details of everyday annoyances:

i-^-3 23.

4 -C 6 5.

SA (continued on next page) 249

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B. Read the next section of the textbook. Then answer the question and complete the following map.

“A role conflict is a situation in which the different roles a person is asked to play make incompatible demands. 2An example is a working mother. 3 By meeting the demands of a full-time job, you automatically violate the expectation that a mother puts the needs of her children before all else. 4 By meeting the cultural requirements of motherhood (staying home when the child is sick, attending school plays), you automatically violate the requirements of a nine-to-five job. 5A priest gives another example. 6He will keep confessions strictly confidential. 7But a priest, like any other citizen, has responsibilities to the church. 8What should you do if a church member confesses that he has committed multiple violations and you cannot control his behavior? 9By fulfilling one role expectation (secret), the priest violates another (community responsibility). 10 The key point here is that the difficulties experienced by people in these positions—feelings of conflict, inadequacy, and fear—are not of their own making. "They are embedded in their roles. _ 7. The main organizational pattern of the passage is A. Cause and effect. /§J) Definition and example, c. Comparison. D. Contrast. 3-10. Complete the map of where to Summarize the main idea and the two supporting details.

FOR THE STUDENT The following pages contain three proficiency tests that provide additional practice in the skills covered in Chapters 5 and 6: • Relationships involving addition • Relationships involving time • Relationships involving illustration • Relationships involving comparison and/or contrast involve • Relationships involving cause and effect For ease of reference, word lists showing these relationships have been reprinted on the next page.

comparison words

(only) as (only) equal

also similar similar (ly)

similar similar in the same way

contrast words

but nevertheless but nevertheless

instead, against, against, vice versa, vice versa (ly)

still in opposition to despite despite instead of

although different (ly) is different from different while

result effect cause yes. . . then influence

due to (for) reason explanation accordingly

cause and effect words

therefore as a result consequently due to

as a result leads to

252

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVING COLLEGE READING SKILLS Additional Words m

get into

ioflitfii

111

first to one

also a second

in addition to continue

last finally

verbs

before before first then next

while now as when

while the next shortly after

later finally finally last

illustrative words

(for) example including

(for) example as

figure once

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

x10 =

RELATIONSHIPS I AND II: Mastery Test 1 A. Fill in each blank with an appropriate transition from the box. Use each transition once. Then, in the spaces provided, write the letter of the transition you chose. COMMERCIAL.

different from the first

TO BE.

then cause

for instance

1. “When approached by a mean neighbor or a stray dog, you will most likely avoid being attacked or bitten by doing the following. 2First of all, be still. 3Second, don't look the dog directly in the eye; Instead, he looks directly over your head. 4Next, speak to the dog as gently and lightly as possible by saying, "Hey, what's up, buddy?" to the dog.

slowly backwards during

2. “Public opinion can be defined as the opinions of ordinary citizens that they are willing to express openly. 2This expression does not need to be verbal. 3It could also take the form of a protest rally or a vote for one candidate over another. 3. “The opossum responds to danger in several ways.2 Some species of opossum can emit an unpleasant odor. 3 A second way that opossums react to danger is to trick their way out of the tight corner by hissing and growling. 4Finally, the most well-known way of defending against the opossum is to “play dead” by entering a fear-induced coma. 4. "Swollen glands can be uncomfortable, but they're a good sign your body is working to defend itself. 2 They're often associated with an illness like mumps, rubella, a cold, or the flu; but an insect bite or an infected cut can also cause swelling.3A blocked duct in a salivary gland is another possibility of a swollen gland.4But if swollen glands last for more than a few days, they may be a sign of a serious condition such as Hodgkin's disease. 5. "The feeling of wonder is somewhat similar to fear. 2With both of us we feel overwhelmed, facing someone or something much more powerful than ourselves. 3But fear, wonder, is a positive emotion, an expansive emotion. 4While that fear makes us want to run away, wonder makes us want to get closer, even when we hesitate to get too close (continued on next page) 253

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B. Fill in each space with a suitable transition from the box. Use each transition once. Then, in the spaces provided, write the letter of the transition you chose. A. for example D. but

B. next to E. as a result

C. after

6. “There are more than a few similarities between the religion of ancient Egypt and our modern religions. 2, the belief that “you could take it with you” is a key difference. 3 In fact, the Egyptians thought that the dead could carry a significant number of objects with them. 4 In many cases, Egyptian kings and high officials began filling their graves with goods long before they died. 7. “Duct tape is not rolled at the factory into the small rolls you find in stores. 2During the manufacturing process, cellophane sheets several meters wide are first passed through a machine that coats them with glue. 3

A machine wraps the cling film around pipes that are also several meters wide. 4This wide roll of tape is then passed through a slitter that produces the thin rolls of tape that are sold to consumers. 8. “For two decades, the Chinese government tried to control the population by restricting most rural families to one child. 2 Because male children are valued in rural areas—they can farm the land and better support their families—many couples have aborted female fetuses, killed their newborn daughters, or abandoned them to death. 3 , China in 2002 lacked 50 million women. 4With so few girlfriends, desperate bachelors have chosen to marry relatives. 9. "Communicators who want to differentiate themselves employ the strategy of divergence, speaking in a way that emphasizes their differences from others." 3The implicit message here is: “I am different (and have more knowledge) than you”. 10. “Almost all good writing begins with a terrible first effort. 2You have to start somewhere. 3Start by putting something, anything, on a piece of paper. 4A friend of mine says that the first draft is the draft: he just puts it down. -The draft is the ascending draft - you fix it. 6 You try to be more specific about what you have to say. 7 And the third eraser is the tooth eraser, in which you examine each tooth to see if it's loose, cramped, rotten, or even, God help us, healthy.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Data X 10 =

RELATIONS I AND II: Mastery Test 2 Read each option and answer the following questions. A

“The secrecy conflict between the federal government and journalists arises from the different roles they play in society. 2The government has the task of conducting foreign policy. 3To do this effectively, government officials sometimes choose to distort or withhold information. 4Journalists, on the other hand, see their role as one of unearthing and delivering information to the public. 5If they always obtained permission from the government before publishing information, they could only print or broadcast what the government wanted to appear in the media. 1. The main organizational pattern of selection is A. chronological order. B. Bill of materials. C. comparison and/or contrast. 2. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

“Images of starving Africans give the impression that Africa is overpopulated. 2Why else would all these people starve? 3 But the truth is very different. 4Africa has 22 percent of the world's land area, but only 10.5 percent of the world's population. 5So the reason for the famine in Africa cannot be that too many people live on too little land. 6 In fact, Africa has some of the largest undeveloped land suitable for agriculture in the world. 7The reality is that famine comes from three main causes: drought, inefficient agricultural techniques, and wars that interrupt harvests and food distribution. 3. The main organizational pattern of selection is A. chronological order. B. Definition and example. C. Cause and effect. 4. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

“A conflict of interest occurs when an employer is faced with a situation where an action beneficial to one person or group has the potential to harm another person or group. For example, lawyers, management consultants or advertising agencies would find themselves in a conflict of interest when representing two competing companies: a strategy that would benefit one of the client companies more could harm the other client. 3 Another example would be a real estate agent facing an ethical conflict when he represents both the buyer and the seller in a transaction. 4In general, the buyer benefits from a low price and the seller benefits from a high price. “It is possible to handle the situation responsibly, but it is also difficult. (continued on next page) 255

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5. The main organizational pattern of selection is A. chronological order. B. Definition and example, c. List of articles. 6. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

"Cutting a woman in half is an easy illusion for a magician. 2The trick begins when a table with a coffin-like box is brought up on the stage. 3There is an assistant hidden on this table. 4Of course, when the magician shows the box to the audience, it is empty. 5 The magician then asks an assistant on stage to enter the box. 6 As he does so, the hidden woman enters the box through a trapdoor in the table, sticks her feet out one end, and curls up with her head between her knees.7 The other woman draws her knees to her chin and sticks her head out the other end of the box.8 The box now appears to contain a woman, and the magician can look through it 9The woman at the foot of the table then slides back on the table as the magician opens the box again 7. The main organizational pattern of selection is A. chronological order B. Example definition C. comparison and/ or contrast 8. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this p paragraph is

MI.

“Three musical instruments played an important role in the warfare of the 18th century. One of the most important was the snare drum. 3Small drums, often played by children between the ages of 12 and 16, were used to beat the marching rhythm of the soldiers. 4 With an experienced drummer playing 96 beats per minute, a commander could march his troops three miles in fifty minutes, allocating ten minutes every hour to catch a breath and drink something. 5 Another important instrument was a small flute called a whistle. 6 The role of the whistle in an army was to entertain soldiers and convey orders. For example, the song "Pioneer's March" was the signal for the sweepers to move ahead of the infantry. 8 Whistles were also used to give orders to soldiers during battle, as they could be heard over the roar of gunfire. 9 A third instrument of war was the trumpet. 10 Played with one hand, it was used by mounted soldiers to convey messages to soldiers in battle and on the march. two

9. The main organizational pattern of selection is A. chronological order. B. Bill of materials. C. comparison and/or contrast. 10. A transition that signals the organizational pattern of this paragraph is

name section

Given_

RESULT: (correct number)

x20 =

RELATIONSHIPS I AND II: Mastery Test 3 Each of the following options uses two organizational patterns. Read each option, then write the letters of the two organizational patterns in the space provided. A

“A boycott is an expression of protest that consists of the organized refusal of a group of people to do business with another person or group. 2One example is the famous boycott that began in 1955 when Mrs. Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama, refused to obey a local ordinance requiring black people to sit in the back of city buses. 3Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a black boycott of the Montgomery bus system. 4The boycott was initiated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. organized and led. 5Rather than continue to lose the revenue needed to operate the bus system, the city lifted the ordinance. 1. The main organizational patterns of selection are A. Definition example and list of elements. B. Cause-Effect and Contrast. C. Example definition and cause-effect.

!On May 18, 1980, a violent eruption at Mt. St. Helens, Washington state, killed nearly a hundred people and leveled thousands of acres of forest. 2In contrast, many volcanoes in Hawaii never explode, but simply spew lava. 3The difference between volcanic eruptions and simple lava flows is the result of the different composition of the molten rock that comes to the surface as lava. 4The lava from Mount St. Helens is the type that cools the fastest, causing it to form a lava dome that obstructs the flow. 5Eventually, the pressure becomes so great that a powerful explosion blows up the lava dome and expels a great column of ash into the air. 6By contrast, lava from Hawaiian volcanoes contains enough iron to prevent it from solidifying into stone when it reaches air, instead flowing down the side of the cone until it meets an obstruction or eventually cools and solidifies. 7He never covers the volcano; therefore there is no explosion. 2. The most important organizational selection patterns are A. Definition - example and chronological order. B. Contrast and cause-effect. C. List of articles and comparison.

“The United States ranks fairly low among the world's democracies in terms of the percentage of eligible citizens who vote in national elections. 2One reason for low turnout is that individual Americans are responsible for registering to vote, while in most other democracies voters are automatically registered by government officials. 3Furthermore, unlike some (continued on next page) 257

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In other democracies, the United States does not encourage voting by holding elections on weekends or imposing sanctions such as fines.

I do not participate. 3. The main organizational patterns of choice are A. Cause-effect and contrast. B. chronological order and comparison. C. Example of definition and chronological order. D.

“What prompted our distant ancestors to go from walking on all fours to standing upright? 2First, and probably most important, it freed up the front legs for carrying things. 3For dangerous animals that are more than willing to make a meal out of a small primate, the ability to forage for food while possibly carrying their young and returning the food to safety would certainly be beneficial. 4Second, walking upright with the head up provided a better view of food and danger. 5In addition, the vertical orientation helped cool the body by providing a smaller target for the sun's intense equatorial rays and positioning a larger part of the body off the ground to capture cooling air currents. 6Finally, while it took a lot of energy to run, standing upright was very efficient for walking. 7 Long periods of constant walking in search of food required less energy when performed in an upright position. 4. The main organizational patterns of selection are A. Cause-Effect and List of Elements. B. Example of definition and chronological order, c. List of articles and chronological order.

MI.

"When a bee finds a new food source, pollen and bee nectar, it flies back to the hive. 2 Within minutes more bees appear and amazingly fly right to the food. 3 Their ability to do so is a result of what happens in the hive after the first bee has flown. Next to the hive, this bee performs a dance called the swing dance to communicate the direction, distance, and identity of the food to the other bees. First, because it is usually dark in the hive, it emits sound signals that help the other bees determine where it is and how it is moving. 6 It then dances in a figure eight, moving only when facing the food source relative to the sun. 7 The beat of its dance indicates how far away the food is; the faster it dances, the closer the food is. 8Eventually, the bees watching the dance make sounds that make the honeycomb vibrate. 9The dancer then stops and hands the viewers small samples of food so they can know its taste, smell and quality. 10After receiving the necessary information, the other bees fly off to find the food. 5. The main organizational patterns of selection are A. Definition example and list of elements. B. Cause-effect and chronological sequence, c. Comparison and chronological order.

7 Facts and Opinions Look at the photo below of my great-grandmother's headstone and the information it contains. In the spaces provided, do the following: 1. Write on the headstone what you think are facts. 2. Write what you think is the opinion it contains.

Facts: Opinion:

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DONE

One setting is iliifflioii ii an De pn ti tnnsii objeis rtti. Evidence can be physical evidence or the oral or written testimony of witnesses. The photograph on the preceding page presents mainly facts: Elizabeth L. Miller was born December 4, 1823, and died July 21, 1889. She was the wife of H. R. Miller. Here are some more facts - you can check the accuracy of it and thus prove them to be true. Fact: The Quad Tower is the tallest building in this city. (A researcher could go out and confirm by inspection that the building is the tallest.) Fact: Albert Einstein bequeathed his violin to his grandson. (This statement can be verified in historical publications or with Einstein's estate.) Fact: On September 11, 2001, terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, killing thousands. (This event was witnessed by millions of people in person or on television and is firmly on record throughout the world.)

OPINION An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively demonstrated to be true. As a result, it is open to question. For example, my great-grandmother's tombstone says that she "sleeps sweetly." Of course, I certainly hope she sleeps sweetly, but I can't be sure. The statement is an opinion. Or consider this example: After watching a movie, someone might say that the movie was too sentimental. The statement is an opinion because it cannot be objectively proven. Another person might watch the same movie and find it realistic. Both claims cannot be proven; both are opinions. Here are some more opinions: Opinion: The Quad Tower is the ugliest building in the city. (There is no way to test this claim because two people can look at the same building and come to different conclusions about its beauty. Ugly is a value word, a word we use to express a value judgment. Value or judgment words are signs (to express an opinion, these words, by their very nature, constitute opinions, not facts.) Opinion: Einstein should have given his violin to a museum (Who says that? It's not his grandson. This is an opinion) .

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Opinion: The attack on the World Trade Center was the worst act of terrorism in human history. (Whether something is "worse" is always up for debate. Worse is another value word.)

Writing Facts and Opinions To get a better idea of facts and opinions, take a few minutes to write down three facts about yourself and then three of your opinions. For example, here are three facts about me and three of my opinions. Three facts about me: • I measure 1.80 m. • I am typing on a Macintosh computer. • I have two sisters and a wife. Three of my opinions: • Schools should encourage students to read a lot. • Macintosh computers are much easier to use than PCs. • People shouldn't get special treatment just because they're rich. Now write your facts and opinions in the box below. Three facts about you:

Three of your opinions: Note: To make sure these are opinions, do not start them with "I". For example, don't write "I think firearms should be prohibited", just write "Firearms should be prohibited".

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Facts and opinions while reading.

It is pronounced and pronounced in a writing v « , !&&* on the purpose of the author. For example, news articles and scientific reports written to inform readers should be as factual as possible. On the other hand, the main points of editorials, political speeches, and advertisements—materials written to persuade readers—are opinions. Such writings may contain facts, but they are usually facts carefully chosen to support the authors' opinions. Both facts and opinions can be valuable to readers. However, it is important to recognize the difference between the two.

Check Your Understanding To increase your understanding of facts and opinions, read the following statements and decide whether each is fact or opinion. Put an F (for "fact") or an O (for "opinion") next to each statement. Put F+O next to the statement that is a mixture of fact and opinion. Then read the explanation below. Note: Remember that opinions are signaled with value words, words like great, harsh, beautiful, or terrible that express a value judgment. Be sure to write down these words as you read.

1. Last night lightning struck a tree in front of our house. 2. The waiters in this restaurant are rude and the food costs double what it's worth. 3. Ostriches don't bury their heads in the sand. 4. Tom Cruise and Halle Berry are the most beautiful movie stars in Hollywood today. 5. It is a fact that Hawaii is the best of the fifty states to live in. 6. Installing a new sink is an easy do-it-yourselfer. 7. The Grimm brothers collected their fairy tales from other storytellers. 8. There's nothing like a bottle of Coca-Cola to quench your thirst. 9. In the late 1890s, when Coca-Cola was first sold, it contained a small amount of cocaine, which was legal at the time. 10. Coca-Cola, one of the most delicious soft drinks, was originally supposed to cure various diseases, including headaches. Explanation: 1. This is a statement of fact. You and your family may have seen or heard the lightning strike, or you could go outside later and see the type of damage done to the tree.

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2. This is an opinion. It is likely that not all customers agree that all the waiters are rude and that the food is overpriced. The word rude is a word of value. 3. This is a fact (contrary to popular belief) that can be verified by observation and scientific reports. 4. This is an opinion. Not everyone would see Tom Cruise and Halle Berry that way. Here the word value shows us splendidly that a judgment is being expressed. 5. This is an opinion. Saying that something is a fact does not make it a fact. Different people will judge places very differently. 6. This is an opinion. The simple word indicates that a judgment is being made. What may be an easy task for one may be an impossible challenge for another. The simple word is a word of value. 7. That's a fact. It can be confirmed by the writings of the Grimm and by researching the background of their stories. 8. This is an opinion. Many people may prefer cold water or some other drink to quench thirst. 9. All the details here are facts that can be consulted and corroborated in historical records. 10. The first part of the statement is an opinion: not everyone would consider cola one of the tastiest soft drinks. {Delicious is another word of value.) The second part of the statement is a fact that could be corroborated by researching the historical records of the time.

Exercise 1 Some of the following statements are facts, others are opinions. Mark facts with an F and opinions with an O. Remember that facts can be proven, but opinions reflect personal views. 1. Dean R. Koontz's novels include Watchers, Intensity, and The Bad Place. 2. Watchers by Dean R. Koontz is a chilling story that will keep you up all night. 3. Butterflies are the most beautiful of all insects. 4. The taste sensors in butterflies are located in their feet so they can taste when they have a craving for food. 5. Depression is most common in people between the ages of 25 and 44.

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6. There is no disease more serious than depression. 7. The best exercise for a healthy heart is walking. 8. The heart pumps a little over a gallon of blood per minute through about 60,000 miles of blood vessels in the body. 9. More Bibles have been printed than any other book in history. 10. The Roman Catholic concept of God is more correct than the Protestant or the Jewish. ^

Exercise 2: Using the Internet If you have access to a computer with an online service, do the following exercises. If not, use a Sunday newspaper to do exercises A and B. A. Consult a current newspaper. For example, you can go to the current issue of the national newspaper USA Today on the Internet by typing www.usatoday.com. After writing the name and date of the article, write a fact and an opinion of the article. Name and date of the newspaper: A fact in the newspaper: An opinion in the newspaper:

B. Visit a movie review site. For example, go to the popular movie site www.rottentomatoes.com. Find reviews of a recent movie and write down the following: Name of the movie and critic: A fact the critic states about the movie: An opinion the critic gives about the movie:

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C. Visit the page of a book. For example, go to the popular book site www.amazon.com. Look for a review of any of the following books: 1) Dracula; 2) Carlota's web; or 3) / Know why the bird in the cage sings. Record the following: Name of the book and reviewer: A fact the reviewer states about the book: An opinion the reviewer gives about the book:

O ther Points About Facts and Opinions There are several additional points to keep in mind when separating fact from opinion. 1 Statements of fact may turn out to be false. Suppose you discover that the Quad Tower is only the second tallest building in the city. The statement would then be an error, not a fact. It is not uncommon for evidence to show that a "fact" is not really true. For example, it was once accepted as a fact that the world is flat, but this "fact" turned out to be a mistake. 2 Opinions can be masked as facts. Sometimes opinions are presented as facts, as sentence 5 on page 262 shows. Here are two more examples: In fact, none of the mayoral candidates are well qualified. The truth is, frozen food tastes just as good as fresh food. Despite words to the contrary, the above statements are not statements of fact, but expressions of opinion. 3 Remember that words of value (or judgment) often represent opinions. Here are examples of these words: Value words

better worse better worse

great terrible beautiful disgusting

beautiful bad good wonderful

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Value words often express judgment; they are generally subjective, not objective. While factual statements inform about the observed reality, subjective statements interpret reality. For example, observing that it is raining outside is objective. However, saying that the weather is bad is subjective, an interpretation of reality. (Some people confuse rain with good weather.) 4 Words should, and often do, signal opinion. These words represent what people think should or should be done. Other people will have different opinions. Under no circumstances should couples live together prior to marriage. Couples must live together before marriage to ensure that they are compatible. 5 Finally, remember that much of what we read and hear is a mix of fact and opinion. Identifying facts and opinions is important because a lot of information that seems real is actually opinion. For example, a political candidate might say, "My record is excellent." Voters should ask what the value word “outstanding” means for that candidate. Or an advertisement claims that a certain car is "the most fuel-efficient car on the road today," a claim that initially seems like a fact. But what does cheap mean? If the car offers the most miles per gallon but the worst record for expensive repairs, you might not agree that it's cheap. It's also worth noting that some opinions are more widely shared than others, and how facts can appear. If 90 percent of those who see a movie think it's terrible, many people will take it for granted that the movie is bad. Despite this, this widespread belief is still an opinion; Another generation of moviegoers may not agree with current mainstream opinion. If many people believe the rumor that a particular politician cheated on his taxes, that doesn't mean the rumor is fact. Honest people will base their own conclusions on more than popular belief; You will want facts.

>>• Exercise 3 Some of the following statements are facts, others are opinions; Three facts and opinions are also included. Mark facts with an F, opinions with O, and statements of fact and opinion with F+O. 1. German Shepherds are the scariest dogs in the world. 2. The dog that bites humans the most, according to a 27-year study, is the German shepherd.

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3. Always poor pets, German Shepherds are used in police work and as guide dogs for the blind. 4. Since many studies have concluded that smoking is harmful to health, cigarettes should be banned. 5. Scientists predict that one third of people who start smoking before the age of 18 will die prematurely from their habit. 6. Smoking has been identified as a cause of lung cancer. 7. Executives of companies that pollute the environment should be jailed. 8. According to scientists, all the water on earth has been recycled over millions of years and we drink the same water as the dinosaurs. 9. Low-flow showerheads save water, so all homeowners should be required to purchase and install them in their showers. 10. Homeowners should plant water conserving ground covers such as periwinkles instead of grass.

Practice 4 A. These are brief descriptions from a restaurant guide. Some descriptions are factual information only; others also contain opinions. Label the three factual descriptions with F and the two factual and opinion descriptions with F+O. 1. Dunkin Donuts. 480 Hamilton Street Coffee, donuts, soup and more. To eat here or to take away. 2. Mocha. 735 North Front Street. The best place in the area for coffee and dessert. Tempting cakes, tarts, ice creams and homemade pastries. Rare coffees and herbal teas. imported chocolate. 3. Country Club Dinner. Railroad Place and Exchange Street. Sandwiches for complete meals. Soups and desserts prepared daily. Private space for small celebrations. 4. Wing Tai Oriental Restaurant. Bischofstr. 284. Chinese cuisine. Full service restaurant and buffet lunch. To take away too. 5. Mel's Bar and Grill. Route 14 South. The impressive menu includes steak, lobster, pasta, chicken and brick oven pizza. Free valet parking, live entertainment. Exclusive but affordable. Selection of 35 fine wines.

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B. Here are brief reviews from a newspaper movie guide. Some reviews just present facts; others also contain opinions about the film. Mark the two factual reviews with F and the three reviews that contain both facts and the reviewer's opinion with F+O. 6. Enough, 2002. Jennifer Lopez, Bill Campbell. A waitress meets and marries a rich man who becomes a cheating wife beater. When the police can't help her, she takes martial arts classes to deal with her physical threats. 7. Psycho, 1960. Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh. The godfather of today's slasher movies. A blonde impulsively steals $40,000 from her employer. She is unlucky enough to choose the Bates Motel as her hideout. The hotel manager, Norman Bates, only knows that her mother would not approve of the blonde, so he arranges for her to leave early. Still creepy after all these years. 8. Unforgiven, 1992. Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman. In the Wild West, a former hit man (Eastwood) leaves his retreat with the promise of a $1,000 reward. The film won the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and earned Hackman the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as a small-town sheriff. 9. Citizen Kane, 1941. Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten. A classic that is as fresh today as it was the year it was released. A poor boy is taken away from his mother and raised by a wealthy businessman. The boy becomes a newspaper magnate, but ends up a lonely and bitter man. On everyone's top 10 list. 10. Shakespeare in love, 1998. Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes. Will Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) needs inspiration to overcome severe writer's block. Finally, a secret romance with the beautiful Lady Viola (Paltrow) creates the spark he needs, and more. A film not to be missed with an impressive collection of awards.

Facts and opinions in passages People tend to accept what they read as fact, but much of what is written is actually opinion. Seeking opinions will help you think for yourself and question what you read.

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Check Your Understanding Two sentences in the following passage are facts, two are opinions, and one combines facts and opinions. Read the passage and mark the facts with an F, the opinions with an O, and the statement of fact and opinion with an F+O. Then read the explanation below. “It is time for educators to take responsibility for children's unhealthy lunch choices. 2There is little value in teaching children academics only to damage their minds and bodies with the wrong food at lunchtime. 3About 13 percent of our nation's schools have sold fast-food restaurants the right to put their food on the lunch menu. 4Some schools also allow snack and soft drink vending machines in their buildings. 5 With an abundance of high-sodium, high-fat, and low-fiber foods on school lunch menus, a major public health disaster is looming. 1.

Explanation:

Sentence 1 contains an opinion: some might think that not only educators but also parents and the school community in general should be responsible for children's lunch menus. Sentence 2 is also an opinion; others believe there is significant value in teaching children academics, even when food options are poor. Sentences 3 and 4 contain researchable facts. The last sentence is a mixture of facts and opinions: the first half of the sentence contains facts and the second half is clearly an opinion. Many people may agree that there is cause for concern, but not that a "major public health disaster" is in the making. There may even be some who feel that there is nothing to worry about.

>==* Exercise 5 A. The following section contains five sentences. Two sentences are facts, two are opinions, and one combines fact and opinion. Identify facts with an F, opinions with an O, and statement of fact and opinion with an F+O. “There were several queens of Egypt named Cleopatra, including those who ruled in the days of Antony and Caesar. She 2she she remains the most fascinating figure in Egyptian history to this day. 3History records that in 69 B.C. she was born. and she committed suicide almost forty years later. 4The story of how she committed suicide is very easy to believe. 5 She reportedly committed suicide with a snake, the Egyptian cobra, a symbol of Egyptian royalty, so there couldn't be a better way for the queen to end her life. 1.

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B. The following newspaper editorial contains five sentences. Three sentences are facts, and two combine facts and opinions. Identify facts with F and statements of fact and opinion with F+0. “Currently, approximately half of all children ages three to five in the United States are enrolled in preschool programs, including Head Start, school-based preschool programs, preschools, and day care centers. 2A Carnegie Corporation task force has now recommended that nearly all 3-year-olds be enrolled in a preschool program to improve their chances of success in school. 3The Task Force estimates that 75 percent of the funding for existing early childhood education services can come from families. 4It is extremely unfortunate that the task force did not make suggestions in the report as to who should pay the rest of the bill. 5While the task force calls for immediate action, its proposal should be seen as a long-term goal that deserves serious consideration by policymakers and parents. 1st ^

Exercise 6 Here are excerpts from four book reviews. Mark the two factual descriptions with F and the two descriptions that contain both the facts and the reviewer's opinion with F+O. 1. “From June 1942 to August 1944, Anne Frank, a young Jewish woman, lived every day in fear of arrest by the German Nazis. 2A11 Jews from Nazi-occupied countries and everyone else considered inferior by the Nazis were arrested and sent to concentration camps. 3Anne herself hid with her sister and her parents in Amsterdam two days after her thirteenth birthday. 4 They were hidden behind a folding bookcase at the top and assisted by Dutch men and women. 5 They were soon joined by a second family and a bachelor, who also evaded arrest. 6In Diary of a Young Woman, Anne describes her hopes, secrets, and feelings for her during more than two years in hiding. 2. Charlotte's Web, one of the best-known books in children's literature, is loved by children and adults alike. 2This imaginative story by E.B. White revolves around the stable life of a young pig about to be slaughtered in the fall. 3The farm animals (especially a haughty gray spider named Charlotte) plan with the farmer's daughter to save the pig's life. 4While the author infuses humor into his story, he also deftly blends wise sadness into his themes of friendship and the cycle of life. - This is a book not to be missed.

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3. “In George Orwell's Animal Farm, the horses, sheep, pigs, cows, and other animals at Manor Farm rebel against Mr. Jones, the hard-drinking farmer who owns them. 2 They no longer want to be treated as slaves. 3The pigs lead all the animals on the farm in revolution, driving out all the humans and leaving the animals in charge of the farm and their own destiny. 4With their newly improved conditions, the animals turn to the Napoleon pig for guidance. 5However, whether Napoleon and his fellow pigs will turn the farm into a haven for all animals, or just the pigs, only time will tell. 4. “In his book Amazing Grace, Jonathan Kozol confronts us with the daily life and seemingly endless struggles of people living in Mott Haven, a very poor neighborhood in the South Bronx. 2The book reminds us that residents, like those in poor communities across the country, are not a race apart, but people just like the rest of us, with feelings, needs, hopes, and dreams for their children. 3As human beings, they have the right to adequate housing and food in this prosperous land. 4They have the right to accessible health care and education that will enable them to survive in the 21st century. 5 This is a painful and necessary book to read at an increasingly cold hour in our nation's history.

A Note on Informed Opinion In much of what we read, the distinction between fact and opinion is not as clear cut as it is in the exercise materials in this chapter. But the chapter helped him see the information with the inquisitive eye necessary for a perceptive reader. If you're questioning what you've read, remember that just because something is an opinion doesn't mean it's invalid. Opinions are central to much of our lives (democracy is the best form of government, everyone should have basic healthcare, etc.). However, look for realistic and meaningful support for the opinions. Solid support often consists of facts based on direct observation, expert opinion, and research. Textbook authors, in particular, go to great lengths to back up their opinions with such facts. The textbook passage on the next page is an example. A sentence represents an opinion. The rest of the passage consists of facts used to support this opinion. Someone with an opposing point of view would select very different information to support their opinion. Which sentence reflects the author's opinion? Write your number in the space provided.

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Sentence with opinion:

'm s fW] m tf te wti pw«mi fit te rap M think more about. 2Although crime is found in suburban and rural areas, it is more common in cities. 3Violent crime rates in our largest cities are eight times higher than in rural areas; the property crime rate is four times higher. 4The greatest discrepancy is in theft, which is at least forty-five times greater in the cities than in the countryside! 5The larger the city, the higher the crime rate. 6And suburban areas have lower crime rates than all but the smallest cities. Explanation:

Sentences 2-6 represent facts based on statistics. However, the first sentence represents the opinion of the author (as the word probably implies). He posits that because crime is rampant in cities, it is probably one of the most thought-provoking urban problems for the average citizen. He may agree with this opinion, or he may feel that while the average person is wary of crime, he tries not to think about it too much.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

In this chapter you learned the difference between fact and opinion: • A fact is information that can be proven to be true by objective evidence. This evidence can be physical evidence or the oral or written testimony of witnesses. • An opinion is a belief, judgment, or conclusion that cannot be objectively proven to be true. As a result, it is open to question. Both facts and opinions can be valuable. However, it is important to distinguish between the two and you should view the information with the inquisitive eye of a perceptive reader. The next chapter, Chapter 8, will sharpen your ability to draw conclusions as you read.

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On the Web: While using this book in the classroom, you can visit our website to get more practice distinguishing between facts and opinions. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on online tutorials.

FACT AND OPINION

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Review Test 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, complete each of the following fact and opinion statements. 1. (A fact, an opinion) by objective evidence.

can be proven true

2. (an editorial, political speech, news report) is likely to be completely factual. 3. Most of what we read is (facts, opinions, a mixture of facts and opinions)

4. (facts, opinions) expressing judgments.

often contain words

5. An example of a value word is (rectangular, target, nice, big, wet,

complete,

rounded)

Repeat Test 2 A. Two of the following statements are facts and two are opinions. Label facts with an F and opinions with an O. 1. Each year, falling coconuts kill about 150 people worldwide and sharks kill about 10 people. 2. The greatest danger when swimming in the sea is being attacked by a shark. 3. At the turn of the century, only one in ten married women had a paid job. 4. For self-actualization, every mother in the world today must have a part-time job and take care of her children. B. Here are short reviews from a movie guide. Mark the factual review with an F and the reviews that contain both a factual statement and an opinion with an F+O. 5. Training Day, 2001. Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke. A haunting suspense story about a veteran Los Angeles Police Department lieutenant who escorts a new officer on his first day on the job. Dark and brutal.

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6. Braveheart, 1995. Mel Gibson. Great and flourishing epic story of the 13th century Scottish rebel warrior William Wallace. He manages to tell a gripping personal story that gains scope through a series of impressive and bloody battle scenes. A strong and exciting film. 7. Spider-Man, 2002. Tobey McGuire, Kirsten Dunst. After being bitten by a genetically modified spider, high school student Peter Parker develops unusual powers. He uses his crime-fighting ability while going after Mary Jane, the girl next door. 8. 101 Dalmatians, 1996. Glenn Close. It's supposed to be about dogs; he shouldn't be a dog. Disappointing live-action remake of Disney's animated classic. C. Here are excerpts from two book reviews. Mark the factual description with F and the description that contains both facts and opinions with F+O. 9. "Frank McCourt, who taught writing in the public school system for many years, waited more than forty years to tell the story of his childhood in his book Angela's Ashes." 2McCourt had a father who drank the family food allotment and a mother who felt he had to beg to support her family. 3 The McCourts were too poor to buy sheets or blankets for their flea-infested bed, too poor to buy new shoes for the children, too poor to get milk for the new baby. 4At the age of 11, Frank was the main breadwinner for the family, stealing bread and milk to feed the family. He 5lost his first girlfriend to tuberculosis when he was 15 years old. 6By the age of 19 he had saved enough money to go to the United States. 10. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first book by J.R.R. Tolkien's remarkable fantasy trilogy The Lord of the Rings. 2This gripping novel begins with Middle-earth in danger of being enslaved by Sauron, an evil lord. 3What Sauron needs to complete his destruction is the One Ring, an all-powerful magic ring belonging to Frodo Baggins, Hobbit of the Shire. 4To prevent Sauron from obtaining the Ring, Frodo agrees to take it to the only place where it can be destroyed: into the flames of Mount Doom. 5 armies of orcs, goblins, dark riders and other more powerful and evil enemies are waiting to stop Frodo. 6Frodo's journey that began in this book is one of the most exciting and entertaining stories written in English.

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^ Retest 3 A. Some of the following statements are facts, some are opinions; Furthermore, threes involve both facts and opinions. Label facts with an F, opinions with an O, and statements of fact and opinion with an F+O. 1. My son is the most considerate person in our family. 2. My son once left half a sandwich under his bed for over a week. 3. Even though my son got a B in English this semester, he deserved an A. 4. New York City is not the capital of New York State. 5. New York City, where visitors can see Broadway plays, museums, and attractions like the Statue of Liberty, is an ideal place for a summer vacation. 6. The Empire State Building is New York City's most memorable attraction. 7. Elephants are the largest land animals. 8. Researchers have found that elephants are nervous around rabbits and dachshunds, but not mice. 9. The lively game of rabbits and dachshunds is always fun. 10. Elephants are the most fascinating animals in the zoo, as they use their trunks to clean and eat. B. (11-20.) Each passage below contains five sentences. Two are facts, two are opinions, and one combines facts and opinions. Indicate facts with F, opinions with O, and statement of fact and opinion with F+O. 1.

“There are few problems more annoying than hiccups, which can last for hours or even days. 2According to a doctor who examined them, hiccups are usually caused by eating or drinking too quickly. 3People are doing some pretty strange things to solve this ridiculous problem. 4Some common remedies include holding your breath, eating a teaspoon of sugar, and putting a paper bag over your head. Without a doubt, the latter is the strangest of all. 1.

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“The Lincoln Memorial is easily America's most beloved public monument. ^ Designed by Henry Beacon, dedicated on Memorial Day in 1922, more

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as titty years after a Lincoln memorial was first proposed. "Built to resemble a Greek temple, it contains a seated figure of Lincoln by sculptor Daniel Chester French. 4 Many people probably learn to admire the monument long before they visit it in person by seeing its likeness on the one-cent and five-dollar bill. 5A11 Americans must feel pride mixed with sadness when they personally come to Washington and look at the kind and sad face of Abraham Lincoln 1° 2° 3° 4° 5°

^ Retest 4 This is your chance to apply your understanding of facts and opinions to a full article. The selection presents new information on a subject that many people already know something about: the importance of the siesta. To help you further strengthen your skills, the reading is followed by questions not only about what you have learned in this chapter, but also about what you have learned in previous chapters. words to watch

Below are some words in the reading that do not have strong contextual support. Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). fashionable (4): for; in general practice tactics (4): method strengthening (5): chronic energizing (5): continuous adjustments (5): sparkling fixes (6): lively and interesting propensity to (6): likely prophylactic (7) cumulative protective (7): collective nocturnal activity (9): nocturnal lethargy (12): state of extreme fatigue and inactivity

N E W RESPECT A REST T H A Jane E. 1

"You need to sleep sometime between lunch and dinner, and no half measures. Get undressed and go to bed. I always do that. Don't think you'll work less because you sleep during the day. That's a silly idea of people who he has no imagination. You will be able to achieve more. You have two days in one, well, at least a day and a half." -Winston Churchill

As someone who sleeps little and rarely stays in bed for more than six hours a night, I'm a big believer in taking naps to recharge my batteries. Sir Winston and I are in good company. Nap enthusiasts included Albert Einstein, Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Edison, and at least three presidents: John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Furthermore, sleep researchers have shown that no matter how much sleep you get at night, the human body is programmed to be sleepy in the early afternoon, even without a big lunch. "Snoozing shouldn't be frowned upon at the office or cause pangs of conscience at home," writes Dr. James B. Maas, a Cornell psychologist and sleep expert. "It should have the status of a daily exercise." People dozed off for about an hour after lunch, and siestas are still in vogue in some Latin American and European countries. But in most developed countries, the usual response to

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277

FOR THE INSTANT Brody COOL DOWN in the afternoon when energy is low to try to jump start the system with caffeine. But sleep experts say Tactic 0 is actually counterproductive, only creating the illusion of efficiency and alertness, and depriving your body and brain of much-needed sleep. How naps help

However, there is now increasing evidence that quiet naps are making a comeback. Considering that most of their employees are chronically sleep deprived, some companies have installed bedrooms with armchairs, blankets, and clockworks. If unions are genuinely interested in the welfare of workers, they should make such provisions a standard item in contract negotiations. Workers who take the opportunity to get about twenty minutes of sleep during the workday report that they can return to work with renewed enthusiasm and energy. My college roommate, Dr. Linda Himot, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist who has a knack for taking 10-minute naps between patients, says these breaks help her focus better on each patient's problems, not they are always stunning. And companies that encourage naps report that even if it shortens the workday a bit, it reduces accidents and errors and increases productivity. Studies have shown that sleepy workers make more mistakes and cause more accidents, and are more prone to heart attacks and gastrointestinal illnesses.

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A NASA scientist's study showed that twenty-four-minute naps significantly improved a pilot's alertness and performance on transatlantic flights. (The co-pilot stayed awake.) Dr. David Dinges, a sleep researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, is a strong advocate of prophylactic naps, what he and others call "power naps" during the day to avoid the cumulative effects of loss of sleep He explained that the brain "stutters a bit" when deprived of sufficient sleep, leading to poor performance and attention, and often "microsleep" - falling asleep unintentionally where accidents can happen. A quick nap usually leaves you with more energy than if you were trying to muddle through without sleep. Studies have shown that the brain is more active in people who nap during the day. 9 Dr Maas, a Cornell psychologist and author of Power Sleep, notes that naps "greatly improve the ability to pay attention to detail and make critical decisions." She also notes that "a nap of about eight hours after waking has been shown to do much more for you than adding those twenty minutes to an already adequate night's sleep." 10 There are two types of naps: short ones to revitalize the brain and long ones to make up for significant loss of sleep. The invigorating working day should not last more than thirty minutes; no more and the body falls into a deep sleep from which it is difficult to wake up. How and when to take a nap

Long naps help if you've built up a significant amount of sleep deprivation, say the night before.

OF SKILLS

you have slept much less than usual or if you know you need to be alert and wake up much later than your usual bedtime. I usually try to get an hour or more of sleep before going to a play, concert, or late-night party. But long naps have a temporary drawback: They cause what researchers call sleep inertia, a state of sleepiness upon awakening that can last for about half an hour. Also, long naps can affect your internal clock, making it difficult for you to wake up at the right time in the morning. "A short nap 12 times a day is much healthier than a long nap or long naps on the weekends," says Dr. Maas. They are also much better than caffeine as a stimulant. "Caffeine consumption that night is followed by feelings of lethargy and reduced REM sleep (or sleep)," writes Dr. Maas. "A debt in your sleep bank account will not be relieved by artificial stimulants." He suggests scheduling a nap at 1 p.m. m., as a late afternoon nap can cause your body clock to shift, making it difficult to fall asleep at night and get up the next morning. To keep the nap short (15 to 30 minutes), set an alarm or timer. Westclox makes a device called the Napmate, which is a nap alarm that allows you to time your nap to last for a specified number of minutes. If you can lie on a sofa or bed, much better. If not, use a lounge chair. You don't have to follow Churchill's advice to undress, but make yourself as comfortable as possible. Bathrobes are very popular and inexpensive; If a blanket helps you fall asleep, take one with you. Try to take naps at the same time about 14 times a day. dr. Maas recommends a nap eight hours after waking up (about eight hours at noon).

FACT AND OPINION

before bedtime). Even on days when you don't feel particularly tired, she suggests resting instead of having coffee for your usual afternoon break. 15 There are special cases. People who have trouble falling asleep at night should avoid naps during the day. Parents of newborns should nap when the baby naps, rather than spending all of the baby's sleep time on housework.

279

After all, naps are often essential for 16 people trying to get over illness, injury, or chemotherapy, even if they get enough sleep at night. One woman I know who kept working while receiving cancer treatment slept on the floor under her desk every day. Like so many jobs, his didn't have a convenient place to rest.

Reading Comprehension Questions Vocabulary in Context 1. In the following sentence, the word self-defeating (koun'tar-pra-duk'tiv) means A. truthful. B. practical and simple. C. too helpful. D. have the opposite effect of what is intended. "But...the usual response to the mid-afternoon power bath is to try to stimulate the system with caffeine, a tactic that...is actually counterproductive, as it only creates the illusion of efficiency and alertness, and deprives the body of and much-needed sleep brain.” (paragraph 4) 2. In A.B.C.D.

In the following sentence, the word respite (res'pitz) means trouble. breaks training sessions. exams "Dr. Linda Himot, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist who has a knack for taking 10-minute naps between patients, says these breaks help her focus better on each patient's problems..." (paragraph 6)

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Central point and principal idea

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A. Siestas of about an hour after lunch were once popular and still are in Latin American and European countries. B. There are two types of naps: short ones, which feed the body and brain, and long ones, which make up for major sleep losses. C. According to sleep researchers, the human body is programmed to be sleepy in the early afternoon. D. Naps, usually short, about eight hours after waking up, give people physical and mental energy. 4. Sometimes a main idea spans more than one paragraph. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of paragraphs 13 and 14? A. It's important to schedule naps instead of late afternoons, says Dr. Maas. B. Napping people should make sure they are as comfortable as possible. C. Dr. Maas suggests simple steps people can take to get a good nap. D. For many reasons, says Dr. Maas, a nap is better than a coffee break. Supporting Details 5. Depending on the selection, it is best to A. sleep in the late afternoon. B. Conflicts between workers are reduced. C. Improves the concentration and efficiency of workers. D. can help most people sleep better at night. Transitions 6. The relationship expressed in the following proposition is one of A. Comparison. B. additional. C. Contrast. D. Cause and effect. "...long naps can affect the biological clock and make it more difficult to wake up at the right time in the morning" (paragraph 11).

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Organizational Patterns 7. (Fill in the sentence:) Paragraphs 6-9 discuss some of the implications of

Fact and Opinion 8. The word that makes the excerpt below an opinion is A. because. B sleep stupid people D. “Don't think you work less because you sleep during the day. That is a silly notion of people who have no imagination.” (paragraph 1) 9. The following sentence is mostly a fact. B. Opinion. "A NASA scientist's study showed that 24-minute naps significantly improved a pilot's alertness and performance on transatlantic flights" (paragraph 7) .10. The following proposition is A. a fact. B. an opinion. C. A mixture of facts and opinions. "Westclox makes a device called the Napmate, a nap alarm that allows you to time your nap to last a specified number of minutes" (paragraph 13).

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discussion questions

1, Are you a "Nap Enthusiast"? If so, when and where do you usually sleep? How does the nap affect you? After reading this article, do you agree that napping, as Dr. Maas suggests, "should have the status of daily exercise"? 2. According to Brody, companies "recognize that the majority of their employees are chronically sleep deprived." Why do you think so many people don't get enough sleep? Are you or someone you know not getting enough sleep? If so, how does it affect you or the other person? 3. Brody argues that employers should encourage napping in the workplace. How do you feel about a proposal like this? What objections do you think employers might have to such a proposal? 4. Research by a NASA scientist showed that napping can improve a pilot's alertness and performance. What do you think people might be doing (besides napping) to increase their alertness and performance, whether at school or at work? Note: See pages 588-589 for writing assignments for this selection.

FACT AND OPINION

check your performance

correct number

exercise

Points

score

(5 item)

Verification Test 2 (10 items)

Verification Test 3 (20 items)

1.5

Repeat test 4 (10 items)

SCOIIE TOTAL

repeat test 1

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Mastery Test 1 A. Five of the following statements are facts and five are opinions. Label statements of fact with an F and statements of opinion with an O. 1. In 1924, the Ford Model T could be purchased for $290. 2. Ford's Model T was the most important invention of the 20th century. 3. The core of a pencil is made of graphite and clay, not lead. 4. It is always better to use a pen than a pencil when taking notes in class. 5. Finding a double yolk in an egg is a sure sign of good luck in the future. 6. A hen in Russia once laid an egg with nine double yolks. 7. Jay Leno became the official host of The Tonight Show in 1992. 8. Jay Leno is the best talk show host ever. 9. Baltimore's traffic lights were designed for people who are color blind: the green lights are vertical and the red ones are horizontal. 10. People who ignore traffic lights and stop signs should be sentenced to a few days in prison. B. Here are short film reviews from a newspaper guide. Some reviews only provide factual reports; others also contain opinions about the film. Please mark factual qualifications with an F; Mark reviews that also contain the reviewer's opinion with F+O. 11. Pearl Harbor, 2001. Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett. The terrific battle sequence can't save this war movie from its ridiculously bad dialogue and hilarious romance. 12. My mother is a werewolf, 1989. Susan Blakely, John Saxon. Bitten on the toe by a pet store owner, a woman turns into a werewolf. 13. Good Will Hunting, 1997. Matt Damon, Robin Williams. Good, if predictable, story about a troubled young janitor in college who also happens to be an undiscovered math genius.

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14. John Q, 2002. Denzel Washington, Robert Duvall. When a worker learns that his son needs a heart transplant, he discovers that his health insurance will not cover the surgery. To save the life of his son, he takes the hospital emergency room hostage. 15. / About Sam, 2002. Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer. Drama about a father with mental problems who fights to keep custody of his little daughter. Good performances, but the movie is a cloying tearjerker film instead of seriously tackling a complicated topic. C. (16-20.) The following passage contains five sentences. Label each sentence with an F (for a fact), an O (for an opinion), or F+O (for a combination of fact and opinion). Notice that a sentence combines facts and opinions. “The first swimsuits for women were created in the mid-19th century. Invented by a man, they were ridiculous high-necked costumes that included knee-length skirts, elbow-length sleeves, black stockings, and shoes. 3 Once these suits got wet, they could weigh as much as the bather, and are believed to have caused drowning more than once. 4 It is incredible that women have ever consented to wear such clothing. 5 Only a man could have invented something so impractical for women. 1.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

x5 =

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Mastery Test 2 A. Five of the following statements are facts and five are opinions. Label statements of fact with an F and statements of opinion with an O. 1. It would be nice if the day had more than 24 hours. 2. The earth rotates completely on its own axis every 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. 3. Cats are much easier to care for than dogs. 4. Once a cat fell from the 20th floor of a building and only suffered a broken pelvis. 5 Fishing is the fourth most popular outdoor activity in the United States, after hiking, swimming, and camping. 6. Families who participate in outdoor activities together are happier than those who don't. 7. Organ transplantation is the most important medical achievement of the 20th century. 8. Transplants give more than two thousand people a year a heart that once belonged to someone else. 9. The puffer fish is the strangest creature in nature. 10. The puffer fish avoids being eaten by swallowing so much water that it grows too large for its enemies to swallow. B. Here are five short book reviews. Mark a factual review with an F; Flag a review containing facts about the book and the reviewer's opinion with F+O. 11. Goodnight Mr. Tom takes place while England was being bombed in World War II. City children were sent to rural families who would protect them. Soon, Willie Beech, an abused child, is brought to the home of the gruff but kind older man Tom Oakley. Then follows an incredibly moving story that makes this a wonderful book for young and old alike.

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12. Bram Stoker's Dracula begins with the story of Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer hired by Count Dracula. after he enters

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In Dracula's castle in Iransylvama, Jonathan sees himself as a prisoner of the Count, who gradually realizes that he is a monstrous vampire. Back in England, Harker's fiancée Mina watches helplessly as her best friend falls victim to a mysterious disease that is taking her life and blood. When Jonathan and Mina discover Dracula is on the loose in England, they join a small group of friends to destroy the bloodthirsty Count forever. His story is told in the form of his letters, notes and journals. 13. Any reader who thrives on horror and suspense should read Mary Higgins Clark's novel The Cradle Will Fall. In it, a prosecutor discovers evidence proving that a famous doctor kills women without knowing that she herself is her next target. Higgins squeezes every conceivable tension into this story. 14. What is the definition of human evil? In People of the Lie, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck makes an impressive attempt to answer this question. Based on everyday experiences, Dr. Pique how bad people attack others rather than risk looking at their own faults. As hard to put down as a thriller, People of the Lie is sure to intrigue and unsettle you. 15. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is about a little boy, Harry Potter, who was orphaned when he was a baby. He is raised by his aunt and uncle, the Dursleys. They don't like or want him and his son Dudley bullies him. But Harry's life changes when he is called to Hogwarts, a school for young witches and wizards. C. (16-20.) The following passage contains five sentences. Label each sentence with an F (for a fact), an O (for an opinion), or F+O (for a combination of fact and opinion). Notice that a sentence combines facts and opinions. According to a recent study, about 1.7 percent (850,000) of American students are homeschooled. 2Many parents make this decision for a very understandable reason: concern about the impact of peer pressure, drugs, and alcohol in public schools. 3But other parents choose homeschooling because public schools do not support their particular religious beliefs. 4 These parents should worry about how their children will ever learn to think for themselves. 5 A narrow religious point of view can be as bad as a lack of religious training. 1.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

x5 =

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Domain Test 3 A. Identify facts with F, opinions with O, and the two combinations of facts and opinions with F+O. 1. Rice grows in a hot and humid climate. 2. Rice goes much better with roasted vegetables than with pasta. 3. Brown rice provides more B vitamins than white rice. 4. White rice is the result of milling, which removes much of the grain's nutrients; therefore, people should only eat brown rice. 5. Comic strips are never appropriate reading for young children. 6. In 1907, the San Francisco Chronicle began running the first daily comic strip: "Mr. Mutt," later renamed "Mutt and Jeff." 7. Before Popeye the Sailor became a children's cartoon character, he was a free-swearing adult comic character. 8. Fighting should be prohibited during hockey games. 9. Basketball was invented in 1891 when a YMCA teacher invented a game that involved two peach baskets and a football. 10. Baseball players have been known to do some really ridiculous things; For example, some players tear a new glove by rubbing it with shaving cream. B. Here are five short book reviews. Mark a factual review with an F; Flag a review containing facts about the book and the reviewer's opinion with F+O. 11. Water Ship Down by Richard Adams is a wonderfully entertaining novel about rabbits that behave much like humans. The plot may sound improbable, but it will grab your attention and not let it go. 12. The Silence of the Lambs, a novel by Thomas Harris, is about a mad and clever murderer on the loose. In searching for him, the FBI builds on clues from the killer himself. This story was made into a movie.

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13. Truman Capote's In Cold Blood is a chilling true story about the murder of a family and also an investigation into what motivated their killers. Many books today tell compelling stories about real life crimes. In Cold Blood was the first book of its kind, and perhaps the best. 14. In Cry of the Kalahari, Mark and Delia Owens tell how they went to Africa to study wildlife and save some animals from destruction. This couple describes their encounters with hyenas, lions, and a predator they believe to be even more dangerous: humans. 15. Viktor Frankl, in his inspiring book, Man's Search for Meaning, answers the question: "What happens to people when everything has been taken away from them, including human dignity?" The author describes his time in the concentration camp and what he thinks he learned to survive there. This true story is simple but unforgettable. C. (16-20.) The following passage contains five sentences. Label each sentence with an F (for a fact), an O (for an opinion), or F+O (for a combination of fact and opinion). Notice that a sentence combines facts and opinions. Americans have been overly concerned with success and owning things. 2According to a recent study, up to 80 percent of job applicants' resumes contain false or misleading information. 3In addition, studies show that Americans use up to 50 percent of their paychecks to repay consumer loans. 4 Consumers spend millions of dollars each year on their wardrobe alone, dollars that should have gone to worthwhile projects like health research and homeless shelters. 5It is time for Americans to become less selfish and contribute more to the community. 1.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Fecha x5 =

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Mastery Test 4 A. Identify facts with F, opinions with O, and the two combinations of facts and opinions with F+O. 1. Adults should not consume dairy products. 2. Some people who are allergic to cow's milk digest goat's milk more easily, and goat's milk also tastes better. 3. Watching sporting events in person is more exciting than watching them on TV. 4. Children should not be allowed to watch television for more than one hour a day. 5. In the Middle Ages it was commonly believed that the seat of human intelligence was the heart. 6. The Middle Ages were the worst time to be alive; For example, the bubonic plague killed millions of people in the mid-14th century. 7. In the Middle Ages, the clergy in particular knew how to read and write; Most other people, including kings, did not have these abilities. 8. Initially, rubber was only made from the sap of certain tropical plants, and today it is often produced synthetically. 9. Joseph Priestley, an 18th-century scientist, called the substance rubber because it could erase pencil marks. 10. Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of the Blues," died in a car accident in 1937. 11. A week after the 1929 stock market crash, Columbia released Smith's recording of Nobody Knows You When You're . Down and out." 12. No singer alive today can sing this song better than Smith.

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B. (13-17.) The following passage contains five sentences. Label each sentence with an F (for a fact), an O (for an opinion), or F+O (for a combination of fact and opinion). Notice that a sentence combines facts and opinions. 1

A common definition of retirement involves the idea of withdrawing from the labor market, but this notion of retirement is too narrow. 2After retirement it's much better to stay involved in the world of part-time work. 3Some companies have recently encouraged this type of engagement with retirees by hiring two or three seniors part-time instead of one full-time. 4For example, Travelers Corporation employed 600 retired workers for 300 joint jobs. 5Other retirees continue to work part-time by volunteering for organizations such as hospitals and museums. 1.

C. The following passage is from the editorial page of a newspaper. One of the excerpts below is fact, one is opinion, and the other combines fact and opinion. Identify fact with F, opinion with O, and combination of fact and opinion with F+O. “Even casual observers of school reform know that one of the most heard topics revolves around the length of the school year. . . . 2 We hear endlessly about the 240+ days Japanese students spend, and we implicitly assume that the rest of the world is much closer to their standard than ours. 3 In fact, the vast majority of countries in the world are closer to our standard than to Japanese. 4Almost everyone has more than our 180 days, but most don't have much more. 5The international average is 190 days. 6Of about 27 countries and provinces, only six exceed 200 days. . . . 7 A11 from which suggests a few things. 8First, the length of the school day may be a greater concern than the length of the school year, since students from other countries tend to spend more hours in the classroom than US students. 9Second, the broader question of the quality of time spent in school is probably much more important than the question of the quantity of time. 18. The international average is 190 days. Out of around 27 countries and provinces, only six exceed 200 days. 19. First, the length of the school day may be a greater concern than the length of the school year, since students from other countries tend to spend more hours in the classroom than US students. 20. Second, the broader question of the quality of time spent in school is probably much more important than the question of the quantity of time.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Fecha x5 =

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Mastery Test 5 A. Read the following textbook excerpts and identify facts with F, opinions with O, and the two combinations of fact and opinion with F+O. 1. Your attitude towards college work is even more crucial than any reading or study skills. 2. Most newborns sleep two-thirds of the time, an average of sixteen hours a day. 3. Some tycoons have built their fortunes by ruthlessly destroying the competition. A classic example was John D. Rockefeller. He organized Standard Oil in 1870. 4. Many teachers who work with older adults are insensitive to their students' feelings of discouragement. 5. Canaries were found in the Canary Islands before Columbus and his crew discovered America and sailors brought them home and kept them for singing. 6. Permanent precautions against frozen pipes include wrapping them in fiberglass insulation or heating tape. 7. Single fathers can better reconcile work and childcare than single mothers. 8. Surveys show that in the United States, the majority of children under the age of 18 live in the same household with their mother and father. 9. Apple trees usually don't begin to flower or bear fruit until they are five to eight years old. 10. In Belgium, where elections are held on Sundays, up to 90% of the population votes. 11. As a general, George Washington was not a brilliant strategist like Napoleon. 12. Alfred Stieglitz published fifty-four volumes of Camera Work between 1903 and 1917, giving us the best record ever made of the art of photography.

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B. (13-15.) The next paragraph contains three sentences. One expresses facts, one expresses an opinion, and a sentence combines facts and opinions. To identify

the factual sentence with F, the opinion with O, and the combination of fact and opinion with F+O. "The flashing of fireflies is one of the loveliest sights on a summer night. 2 These lovely little insects turn on their lights as part of their fascinating mating ritual. 3 Although many different species of fireflies can flash in one area, males and females of the same species can be found by flash pattern.

C. Read the following passage from the textbook, then identify each of the numbered excerpts from the passage as fact (F), opinion (O), or both fact and opinion (F+O). (Two of the excerpts are both facts and opinions.) “Frederick Douglass, a former runaway slave from Maryland, was one of the most notable Americans of his generation. 2As a slave, he had received his fair share of beatings and other humiliations. 3But he was allowed to learn to read and write and to learn a trade. 4 (Such opportunities were denied to the vast majority of slaves.) 5 He settled in Boston, became an agent for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and a prominent speaker at its public meetings. 6 Douglass was a majestically handsome man who exuded determination and outrage. 7 In 1845 he published his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, one of the most compelling accounts of slave life ever written. 8 Douglass insisted that emancipation alone would not free slaves. 9 He demanded full equality, socially, economically, and politically. 10 Few white Northerners accepted his argument. “But even fewer of those who heard or read his works would later claim that all blacks were boring or resigned to a lower status. 16. Frederick Douglass, a former slave who escaped from Maryland, was one of the most notable Americans of his generation 17. But he was allowed to learn to read and write and learn a trade at 18. He settled in Boston, became a agent of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society and keynote speaker at its public meetings. 19 Douglass was a majestically handsome man who exuded determination and indignation. 20 In 1845 he published his Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, one of the most fascinating accounts of the lives of slaves that have ever been written.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Fecha x5 =

FACTS AND OPINIONS: Mastery Test 6 A. Read the following textbook excerpts and identify facts with F, opinions with O, and the two combinations of fact and opinion with F+O. 1. In the late 1700s, doctors used a technique called blistering, creating second-degree burns on the skin to clear the infection by building up pus. 2. Until the late 19th century, Americans did not know that most deadly diseases are caused by microorganisms. 3. Given the beliefs Americans had about disease in the 19th century, it would not have been nice to live in this century. 4. Alcohol was first discovered and drunk in the Stone Age. 5. The Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC. C. built in Athens. and dedicated to the goddess Athena. It remains an example of near perfect architectural design. 6. Infertility rates have increased in the last twenty years: 10 to 15 percent of couples trying to have children are unable to conceive. 7. Stomach cells secrete gastric juice, which is a mixture of water, enzymes, and hydrochloric acid. 8. Beethoven took the stage at an auspicious moment in history. 9. A truly outstanding contribution to the field of motivation research is Abraham Maslow, who developed the concept of the hierarchy of needs. 10. McDonald's is more than a restaurant: it is a symbol of our way of life, an institution that dominates American society. B. (11-15.) The following passage contains five sentences. Label each sentence with an F (for a fact), an O (for an opinion), or F+O (for a combination of fact and opinion). Notice that a sentence combines facts and opinions. “Legally, a check doesn't have to come out of a checkbook; It can be written on any material. 2For example, in Iowa, a man painted a check on a door for $30 and gave it to a neighbor to whom he owed the money. 3An Englishman named Albert Haddock paid his taxes in the strangest way: he wrote a check on the side of a cow. 4Though such unusual controls (continued on next page) 293

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are legal, the law allows payers to refuse to accept them. 5 The government should ban such checks altogether. 1.

C. Read the following textbook passage, then identify each statement cited as fact (F), opinion (O), or fact and opinion (F+O). (Only one of the excerpts combines fact and opinion.) “The educational system in the United States has long been characterized by discriminatory treatment of women. 2In 1833, Oberlin College became the first institution of higher learning to admit female students, some 200 years after the first male college was founded. 3 But Oberlin treated his students as future wives and mothers, not future lawyers and intellectuals. 4 female students washed the men's clothes, took care of their rooms and served their meals. 5In the 1840s, Lucy Stone, an Oberlin student and later one of the country's leading feminist leaders, refused to write a commencement address because it would have been read by a male student. 6During the 20th century, sexism manifested itself in education in various ways. 7 Textbooks contained negative stereotypes about women, counselors pressured female students to prepare for “women's work,” and recreational programs for women received less funding than those for men. 8But nowhere has educational discrimination been more evident than in the employment of teachers. 9The positions of university professor and university administrator are usually reserved for men. Still, public school teachers, who earn much lower salaries, are overwhelmingly women. 16. In 1833, Oberlin College was the first college to admit female students, some 200 years after the first male college was founded. 17. But Oberlin treated his students as future wives and mothers, not future lawyers and intellectuals. The female students washed the men's clothes, took care of their rooms, and served them their meals. 18. In the 1840s, Lucy Stone, an Oberlin student and later one of the country's leading feminist leaders, refused to write a commencement address because it would have been read by a male student. 19. But nowhere has educational discrimination been more evident than in the employment of teachers. 20. The positions of university professor and university administrator are generally reserved for men. Still, public school teachers, who earn much lower salaries, are overwhelmingly women.

8 conclusions

You've probably heard the expression "read between the lines" before. When you "read between the lines," you pick up ideas that are not directly expressed in what you read. These implicit ideas are often important in understanding what an author means. Discovering ideas that are not directly articulated in writing is called reasoning or argumentation.

AN INTRODUCTION TO CONCLUSIONS First, consider some conclusions that you might draw in everyday life. • Drive to a small town with two restaurants. There are two cars in one restaurant and many cars in the other. What restaurant could have better food and prices?

• You meet a dog in the park and it flinches when you try to pet it. What could you conclude from this?

• You are looking for a movie in the newspaper. A movie has a full-page ad with positive reviews from well-known movie critics. Another movie has a full-page ad with positive reviews from radio stations and newspapers you've never heard of. What movie could be the best?

You've probably come to the conclusion that the car-filled diner is a better choice, that the dog you tried to pet was abused, and that the movie could be made more entertaining with commentary from well-known critics. In any case, he made a reasonable guess based on the evidence presented. 295

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In this book you have already practiced drawing conclusions. Do you remember the following sentence from Chapter 1? Many of us have mixed feelings about our politicians, admiring them but also distrusting them. This phrase does not state the meaning of ambivalent, but suggests that ambivalent includes both positive and negative feelings. So from this sentence you can conclude that ambivalent feelings probably means "mixed feelings", and you would be correct. They also drew conclusions in the main implicit ideas chapter. Implicit ideas are those that are not directly expressed. Instead, you must use the evidence in a selection to find it by inference. In this chapter, you'll get more practice drawing conclusions. Read the following passage, and then circle ( / ) the two conclusions that are most strongly based on the information given. "A sociology professor wrote on the blackboard: 'A wife without her husband is nothing' and, smiling, challenged the students to spell the sentence correctly. 2All the men wrote: 'A woman without her husband is nothing'" 3 However, the women wrote: “A woman: without her the man is nothing.” 1. The teacher was definitely a man 2. The teacher did not believe that the students could punctuate the words correctly 3. The teacher knew there was more than one way to get the words right 4. The teacher is not a good teacher 5. Gender differences caused students to read and score the teacher's words differently Explanation:

1. There is no reference to the teacher's gender in the passage. You should not check this item. 2. Nothing in the passage indicates that the teacher doubted the students' ability to punctuate the words correctly. He should not mark this item. 3. Since the teacher chose the particular sentence and smiled as he wrote the words, we can conclude that the teacher was aware of more than one punctuation opportunity. Therefore, you should have checked this point. 4. There is no indication in the passage that the teacher is a bad teacher. In fact, the professor has chosen a dramatic form to suggest that each gender sees the world from their own perspective. You should not check this item.

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5. Male and female students responded very differently to prayer. Gender was the only apparent difference between the students, so we can conclude that it caused the different responses. You should have checked this point.

Check Your Understanding Now take a minute to watch the following cartoon from New York. What do you think is the artist's point?

Put a check mark ( / ) by the two conclusions that are most logically based on the information in the cartoon. Then read the explanation below. 1. The boy likes to read. 2. The boy is doing his homework. 3. The man has to watch a lot of television. 4. The father does not know how to read. 5. The father prefers a good novel to television.

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Explanation:

I The inference of Ti is ipontt | ffle fit u i i ii m i l inn o play or watch tv. 2. This is not a logical conclusion. The cartoonist would have given us more clues if he wanted us to think that the boy was doing his homework. For example, he could have displayed it on a table with a book and worksheets. 3. This is a logical conclusion. The boy's question and the father's activity in the picture suggest that the boy never sees his father reading, but just watches a lot of TV. 4. This conclusion is not well supported. The father doesn't seem to read much, but that doesn't mean he can't; In fact, the magazine on TV suggests that he can read. 5. This is not a logical conclusion. The boy's question tells us that he never sees his father read.

">~ Exercise 1 Mark ( / ) the most logical conclusion based on the information provided. Look at the example first. Example

A student always sits in the back of the classroom. A. The student does not like the course. B. The student is not prepared for the class. C. The student feels uncomfortable in front of the room. D. The student is farsighted. The correct answer is C. Based on the information we have been given, we can only conclude that the student, for some reason, does not like to sit in the front. We don't get enough information to know why the student thinks that way. 1. A pencil has tooth marks. A. The person using the pencil was nervous. B. The pencil has been bitten by a small child or pet. C. Someone or something chewed on the pencil. D. The pen belongs to someone who is trying to quit smoking.

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2. People crowd around the entrance of a toy store that won't open for another hour. A. The store is the only toy store in the state. B. There are always a lot of people an hour before the opening. C. The store paid a crowd to come. D. The store is having a well-publicized sale. 3. In a car with a foreign driver's license there are various cards, suitcases and bags with snacks. A. The driver of the car is on vacation. B. The driver of the car is on a business trip. C. The driver of the car has children. D. The driver of the car is traveling.

CONCLUSIONS IN READING In reading, too, we make logical leaps from information given in simple terms to ideas that are not directly articulated. As one scholar has said, inferences are "statements about the unknown made on the basis of the known." To draw conclusions, we use all the author's clues, our own experience and logic.

Check Your Understanding Read the following passage and mark ( / ) the three most logical conclusions that can be drawn from it. Then read the explanation below. 1

A famous psychological experiment by Dr. John B. Watson shows that humans can be conditioned like animals, trained to respond to certain stimuli in certain ways. 2 Watson gave a soft, furry white rat to an eleven-month-old baby named Albert. 3 Every time Albert tried to pet the rat, Dr. Watson hit a metal bar with a hammer. 4 Before long, Albert was afraid not only of white rats, but also of white rabbits, white dogs, and white fur coats. 5 he even screamed at the sight of a Santa Claus mask. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

dr. Watson did not like small children. Before the experiment, Albert was not afraid of white rats. Albert was familiar with rats before the experiment. If he had seen a black fur coat, Albert would have screamed. Albert associated the loud noise of the hammer hitting the metal bar with the white rat. 6. Albert was afraid of unexpected loud noises.

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11 This is not a logical conclusion. We can certainly question the way the baby was used, but the passage does not give us enough information to logically conclude that Watson did not like small children. 2. This is a logical conclusion. Since Albert tried to pet the rat, it can be assumed that he was not afraid of the animal. 3. This is not a logical conclusion. The passage gives no indication that Albert had any previous experience with rats. 4. This is not a logical conclusion. The passage does not mention Albert's reaction to any color other than white. 5. This is a logical conclusion. Since the sound seems to have changed Albert's attitude towards the rat, we can assume that he associated the sound with the rat. 6. This is a logical conclusion. Since it was the noise that made Albert afraid of the rat, we have to conclude that he was afraid of the noise. Also, we know from experience that babies are likely to fear unexpected loud noises.

Guidelines for Drawing Conclusions While Reading The exercises in this chapter practice drawing careful conclusions while reading. Here are three guidelines for this process: 1 Never lose sight of available information. Base your conclusions on facts as much as possible. For example, in the paragraph about Watson's experiment, we are told: "Albert tried to pet the rat." From this fact, we can easily conclude that the baby was not afraid of rats. It is also important to note when a conclusion lacks support. For example, the idea that Albert would have screamed at the sight of a black fur coat does not find support on the heel. We are only told that Albert was afraid of white-skinned things. 2 Use your background information and experience to draw conclusions. For example, our understanding and experience with babies helps us realize that Albert was afraid of unexpected loud noises. The more you know about a topic, the better your conclusions will be. So keep in mind that if your expertise is weak in one area, your conclusions may be shaky. A doctor's conclusions about your rash and fever are likely to be more helpful than those of your auto mechanic. 3 Consider the alternatives. Don't just accept the first conclusion that comes to mind. Instead, look at all the facts of a case and all the possible explanations. For example, the doctor analyzing the rash and fever may first consider and then rule out various possibilities before reaching the correct conclusion.

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Read the following passages. Then, in the space provided, she writes the letter of the most logical answer to each question, based on the information in the passage. A

“A company president recently visited a nearby Indian reservation as part of his company's public relations program. 2 "We realize we haven't hired an Indian in the five years our company has been in the area," he told the assembled tribesmen, "but we are looking into the matter very carefully." 3 “Time, time”, said some of the attendees. 4 "We would like to hire 5 percent of our entire workforce from this pool," he said. 5 "Time, time" shouted more from the public. 6 Buoyed by his enthusiasm, the president concluded his short speech by telling them that he hoped his company could take some hiring action in the coming years. 7 "Time, time, time," the whole group yelled. 8 With a sense of satisfaction, the President left the room and was shown the reservation. “The president stopped in a field to admire some of the horses that grazed there and asked if he could get up close to the animals. 10 "Sure," said his guide, "but be careful not to step on the Hour." 1. To understand the main point of this passage, the reader A. must infer the place of the reservation. B. What kind of company the president ran. C. the meaning of the word hour. 2. From the passage we can conclude that the audience A. believed the president's speech. B. did not believe the president's speech. C. was confused by the president's speech. 3. From the passage we can conclude that President A. thought that the Native Americans deserved to be hired. B. said his company should not hire Native Americans. C misinterpreted the Native American reaction to his speech. 4. From the passage we can conclude that the main reason the president told the Native Americans about the jobs was because they A. needed the jobs. For example, he thought promising Native American jobs would make his company look good. C. He thought that hiring Native Americans would be good for his business.

“Parents confused by their teenage alien can take solace in a sign that Junior might be the same species as them: High school status scales look the same as when Corvettes were the hottest cars.

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A new study of welfare systems at eighteen different state high schools reveals some familiar patterns, reports sociologist Murray Milner, Jr. 3

It is still popular: male athletes and attractive girls. 4Downstairs are well-dressed "preppies" trying to look nonchalant about school and trying to get the "right" invitations to the party. 5 "Nerds" clusters in the lower area. 6Your sin? 7Open commitment to academic success. 8 But they are not the lowest. 9 The "morons," says Milner, "were hopelessly inept" at dress and social events. 10 They also often had low grades and poor athletic ability. “Kids generally only date within their status level, which is set in stone in the first year and can rarely be upgraded. 12 However, degradation is a risk. 13 A girl dating a top athlete who later got injured and couldn't play found her status—and hers—suddenly diminished. 14 And being seen talking to classmates "below" one's status can get students down very quickly. 15 “High school is a very scary place,” says Milner. 16 Often it is, agrees Martin Greenberg, a San Diego psychiatrist.17 To ease pressure at home, consider moderating minor arguments with teens, he advises.18 "Try to be flexible, because a lot of them have a hard time. 19No matter what it looks like," he says, "they're desperate for love." 5. From the beginning of the section we can conclude that teens a generation ago A. became popular for very different reasons than they are today. B. social status was not very important in high schools C. Pretty girls and athletic boys were the most popular kids D. only "idiots" drove Corvettes 6. We can conclude from the passage that A. teenagers generally do not they worry about their social status B. the high school years are stressful for many teens C. most teens look up to the students for whom school is open at Hearts are D. Teens generally nte behave lovingly when at home 7. The passage suggests that in high school A. Boys are valued more for their athletic ability and girls for their looks B. Female athletes are generally as popular as male athletes C. A child who is not athletic can be very popular as long as he is a good student. D. Athletes don't mind being invited to parties 8. The passage suggests that A. Enagers are independent thinkers who don't care about the opinions of others. For example, popular teens often make friends with less popular kids. C. Appearance is an important factor in determining the status of high school students. D. A teenager's social status often changes from year to year.

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“During World War II, the troop ship 55 Dorchester, carrying 904 men, left New York Harbor bound for Greenland. 2 Among those who left behind concerned families were four chaplains, Methodist minister George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Catholic priest John Washington, and Reformed Church minister Clark Poling. 3 About 150 miles from her target, a Nazi submarine sighted the Dorchester in its crosshairs. 4 Moments after a torpedo hit, a survivor reports, stunned men climbed out of her berths as the ship began to list. 5 With the power cut, the escort ships proceeded in the dark, unaware of the impending tragedy. 6 Chaos reigned on board as terrified men without life jackets emerged from the hold and jumped into crowded lifeboats. 7 When the four clerics reached the steep deck, they began to lead the men to their boat stations. 8 They opened a warehouse, handed out life jackets, and lured men overboard. 9 In the icy, oil-stained water, Private William Bednar heard ministers preach courage and found the strength to swim to a life raft. 10 While still on board, Grady Clark watched in amazement as the chaplains handed out the last of the life jackets and then, with the utmost disinterest, gave away his own. n As Clark stepped into the water, he saw clergy standing with arms folded, praying in Latin, Hebrew and English. Other men, calm now, joined them as the Dorchester slid under the water. 9. We can deduce from this passage that A. had long been chasing the Dorchester for the Nazis. B. The Dorchester's passengers and her families knew that the ship could be attacked because she had soldiers on board. C. The Nazi submarine was finally found and destroyed. 10. We can conclude that the chaplains and other people left on the boat did not jump because A. there was no more room in the lifeboats and they knew that without life jackets they would not be able to survive in the icy sea. B. They could not swim. C. They assumed that a friendly ship would come to their rescue soon. 11. We can conclude from the passage that Grady Clark A. was one of the men who died in the Dorchester tragedy. B. survived the attack and reported what the chaplains had done. C. was the only survivor of the attack on the Dorchester. 12. The passage suggests that A. the chaplains had known each other for many years. B. Religious belief can strengthen value. C. The chaplains were not afraid of death.

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Exercise 3 Read the following passages from the textbook. Then place a check mark (/) by the three conclusions that are most logically based on the facts given in each passage. A

"George Washington's honesty is a quality that has been well publicized. 2 The famous story of how little George cut down his father's favorite cherry tree and then bravely admitted to the crime occupies a place of honor in American presidential history. 3 The story of The cherry tree was first recorded in 1806 by Parson Mason Weems, a Maryland preacher and storyteller.4 Unfortunately, Parson Weems himself was not entirely honest, and seems to have invented the story of George and the cherry tree.There is no record of the cherry tree incident. cherry tree nowhere until it appears in Weem's book.6 The minister seemed to find it acceptable to teach the virtue of honesty through an invented story.7 We can see Weems's own veracity in the fact that he describes himself in the book as 'former rector of Mount Vernon parish.' 8 There has never been such a parish. 1. The passage suggests that George Washington was not so honest after all . 2. We can conclude that Parson Weems knew George Washington well. 3. Widely accepted stories about history are not necessarily true. 4. Parson Weems wrote about a virtue that he himself did not have. 5. The author of this passage doubts that George Washington was a great leader and president. 6. Weems may have told other false stories in his stories and sermons.

“The Chicago Tribune once wrote that Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, was an ignorant man. 2Ford sued and asked the newspaper to "prove it." 3During the process, Ford was asked dozens of simple general information questions: "When was the Civil War?" “Name of the Presidents of the United States” and so on. 4Ford, having little formal education, was able to provide very few answers. 5Finally, he said angrily, “I don't know the answers to these questions, but in five minutes I could find a man who does. 1. Henry Ford was probably upset by the Chicago Tribune article. 2. Ford has often sued people. 3. The Tribune won the case in court. 4. Ford believed that knowing where to find a fact was good enough. 5. Ford would have been even more successful in his career if he had had a formal education. 6. Ford believed that knowing how to think was more important than knowing the facts.

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“Most people would like to think that they choose their friends based solely on their personal qualities. 2A classic study of a married student condominium complex at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) suggests that proximity (proximity and availability) may be an important factor. 3Researchers asked couples to list their friends in the compound. 4They found that residents were much more likely to mention the couple in the nearest apartment than one who lived two doors away, and they were more likely to visit a couple two doors down than one three or four doors away. 5A distance of ten meters or a short elevator ride made the difference between friends and strangers! 6Recent studies have confirmed the importance of proximity. 7 One possible explanation is that people get tense whenever they meet strangers. 8The more often they see a person, the more they believe that person is predictable and safe, and the more likely they are to start a conversation that leads to friendship. 9This would explain why the most popular couples in the MIT condominium were those who lived at the bottom of the stairs near the trash cans that everyone used. 1. Most people probably think that their personal preferences determine who they choose as friends. 2. In fact, our personal preferences do not affect who our friends are. 3. A person who lives in a large country is likely to have more friends than someone who lives in a small country. 4. Someone who lives in an apartment building is likely to have more friends than someone who lives on a farm. 5. A garbage collector is likely to have more friends than a postman. 6. Someone who works in a busy office is likely to have more friends than someone who works at home.

CONCLUSIONS IN THE LITERATURE Conclusions are very important when reading literature. While factual writers often say a lot of what they mean directly, creative writers often provide verbal pictures that show us what they mean. It is up to the reader to make sense of what the creative writer said. For example, a nonfiction author might write: A man got mad at the person using a cell phone in the theater. But a novelist might write: Thomas turned to the smiling red-haired girl sitting behind him in the theater. A vein throbbed on her forehead. "Would you mind turning off the phone?" he hissed her. "Some of us are here to see the movie."

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Instead of simply saying that Thomas was angry, the author describes the anger in vivid detail. To get the most out of literature, it is often necessary to infer meaning, just like in everyday life. For example, you can infer that the girl who laughs in the theater is insensitive to the rights of others. You could also have deduced that Thomas probably waited a while for her to calm down, but he didn't, and her temper is now boiling. Now consider the following statement that a nonfiction author might produce: A farmer wants to kill a pig, but his daughter objects, so the farmer decides to let his daughter learn for herself that a pig can be a problem. Compare the line above with the following scene from Charlotte's Web, a literary classic beloved by young and old alike: "Fern," said Mr. Arable, "I know more about raising pigs than you do. A weakling causes trouble. 3 Run now!” 4 "But it's unfair," cried Fern. 5 "The pig couldn't help but be born small, right? 6 If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?" 7 Mr. Arable smiled. 8 "Of course not," he said, looking lovingly at his daughter. 9 "But that is different. A little girl is a thing, a little pig is another.' I don't see the difference,' replied Fern, still clutching the axe.12 “This is the most horrible case of injustice I've ever heard of.” 3 A strange expression came over John Arable's face. 14 He looked almost ready to cry 15 "A11 good," he said. 16 Come back inside and I'll get the dwarf when he comes in. 17 I'll let you start with a bottle, like a baby. 18 Then you will see what a problem a pig can be.

Check Your Understanding Check if you can answer the following inference questions about the extract. 1. Fern and Mr. Arable probably A. live in a city. B. in a small town. C. On a farm. 2. From the extract we can see that Mr. Arable A. probably had many pigs in his life. B. has little experience raising pigs. C. he does not like pigs.

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3. Mr. Arable seems to be about to cry because he is worried about A. how difficult it would be to raise the pig. B. does not like to lose an argument with his daughter. C. is moved by his daughter's willingness to support the miniature pig. 4. We can conclude that Mr. Arable agrees to spare the pig because A. Fern has convinced him that it is unfair to kill pigs, no matter how big they are. B. He believes that raising a pig will teach Fern some lessons. C. he realizes that taking care of a little pig is not that difficult. 5. At the end of this passage we can conclude that Mr. Arable A. is a cruel man. B. a reasonable man. C. He is not a very patient man. Explanation:

1. Fern and Mr. Arable live in a place where pigs are born and raised. This strongly suggests that they live on a farm. So, the correct answer is C. 2. Mr. Arable mentions that he knows about "farming pigs." He also tells Fern how to start feeding the pig. These details suggest that he has raised pigs before. Therefore, the answer is A. 3. Mr. Arable appears on the verge of tears after Fern insists that there is no difference between killing a miniature pig and killing a young daughter. And the passage has already described how Mr. Arable looks at his daughter with love. So we can conclude that the plea for justice from the young daughter he adores moved him greatly. Therefore, the answer is C. 4. When Mr. Arable agrees to let his daughter raise the pig, he says, "You'll see what trouble a pig can cause." His words suggest that he hopes Fern learns a lesson. Therefore B is the answer. 5. Mr. Arable talks to Fern, listens to his opinion, and agrees to let her do something he doesn't fully support. These actions indicate that he is a fair and reasonable man. So answer B is correct.

The excerpt from Charlotte's Web is a small example of how reasoning skills can increase your appreciation for literary forms: fiction, poetry, autobiographies, and other imaginative literature. Poetry in particular, by its very nature, involves much of its meaning. Authors often imply their meanings through comparisons. For example, Emily Dickinson begins one of her poems with the lines on the following page:

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Hope is the feathered thing that sits on the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. Here Dickinson uses a figure of speech known as a metaphor and compares hope to a songbird. The comparison implies, among other things, that hope is a sweet and welcome thing.

A Note on Idioms Creative writers often use idioms to give us a new way of looking at something. The two most common idioms are similes and metaphors. • Parable: a frank comparison, introduced with the word like or as. Instead of saying, "The blinds went open," you could put it more vividly by saying, "The blinds went open like a shot." The parable shows that the noise of the blinds was loud and terrifying. Here are some other parables: • The school bus stopped at the corner and the children scattered like brightly colored leaves in the wind. • That Halloween night was as dark as the inside of a witch's hat. • After breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, every day feels like a cloudy and cold Monday morning. • If he feels that you don't know the subject, our math teacher will attack you like a shark. • This runner moves gracefully like a gazelle. • Metaphor: an implied comparison where "like" or "like" is omitted. The thought "No man can be self-sufficient" was vividly expressed in a metaphor by the poet John Donne, who wrote: "No man is an island." His analogy establishes that no one can be separated for long from the continent, from the rest of humanity. Here are some other metaphors: • The note on the paper was a spray of ice water on my face. • When Nate stood up to speak, he was a quivering blob of jelly. • The warm honey of his voice melted my anger. • Children who watched TV for hours were glassy-eyed statues. • The dancer's head was a rose on the slender neck of her neck.

CONCLUSIONS

309

^>* Exercise 4 Use a check mark («/) to identify each idiom as a simile or metaphor. Then answer all of the following concluding questions in the space provided. 1. Their friendship is as real as a plastic Christmas tree. Parable metaphor You can conclude that friendship A. is easy to maintain. B. Fake and cheap. C. seasonal and sparkling. 2. A gang of teenagers roamed the mall like a pack of wild dogs. Parable metaphor You can deduce that the A. boys were polite and friendly. B. cunning and quiet, c. loud and annoying. 3. Executives only admitted the company was a sinking ship after taking millions of dollars for themselves. Parable Metaphor You can conclude that Company A was well managed. B failed. C. went in more than one direction. 4. Everyone at work thinks Jasmine is a real gem. Parable Metaphor You can conclude that Jasmin A. is unpopular and hostile. B. shy and quiet. C. admired and appreciated. 5. I write a family story so my grandparents' stories don't go up in ashes and smoke. Parable metaphor It can be concluded that the stories of grandparents A. are full of fire and passion. B. uneventful and irrelevant. C. in danger of being lost forever.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

y> Exercise 5 George Orwell is famous for his novels Animal Farm and 1984, as well as his classic literary essays. The following is an excerpt from "A Hanging," an essay Orwell wrote about an execution he witnessed when he was an English policeman stationed in Burma. He reads the excerpt and then answers the following concluding questions. Please note that the meaning of some words in the excerpt is given below. repeated: repeated Aries: Hindu god abominable: hateful fearful: timid swaying: swaying from side to side “We were waiting five meters away. 2 The guards had formed an irregular circle around the gallows. 3And then, when the rope was tied, the prisoner began to cry out to his god. 4It was a loud and repeated cry0 of “Ram°! RAM! RAM! Ram!” not urgent and anxious like a prayer or a cry for help, but constant, rhythmic almost like the sound of a bell. 5The dog responded to the sound with a whimper. 6 The executioner, still standing on the gallows, took out a small cotton sack resembling a sack of flour and placed it over the prisoner's face. 7 But the sound, muffled by the cloth, kept coming: “Aries! Aries! Aries! Aries!" 8 The executioner got down and stood to one side, holding the crowbar. “The minutes seemed to pass. 10 The prisoner's constant, muffled cries went on and on: "Aries! Aries! Aries!" he does not hesitate for a moment. “The superintendent, head to chest, slowly beat the ground with his cane; he maybe he counted the screams and gave the prisoner a fixed number, maybe fifty or a hundred. 12 They had all changed color. 13 The Indians were gray as bad coffee and one or two of the bayonets trembled. 14 We looked at the man with the whips and the hood on the hillside and heard his screams-each scream a second of life-the same thought went through all our heads: oh, kill him quickly, finish this, stop me that abominable noise! 15 Suddenly, the inspector made a decision. 16 He raised his head and made a quick gesture with his cane. 17 "Chalo!", he yelled almost violently. 18 There was a crash, and then a deathly silence. 19 The prisoner was gone and the rope was spinning on itself. 20 I released the dog and he immediately galloped after the gallows, but when he got there he stopped abruptly, barked, and then jumped on a coin-operated machine. from the patio, where he was standing in the weeds, looks at us anxiously. 21 We walked around the gallows to inspect the prisoner's body. He was dangling, toes pointing down and spinning very slowly, dead as a rock. 23 The overseer reached out with his staff and struck his naked body; he wavered slightly. 24 "Okay," said the inspector. 25er

CONCLUSIONS

311

He climbed out from under the gallows and let out a deep breath. The sullen expression suddenly left her face. 27 She looked at her watch. 28 "Eight past eight. 29 Well, that's all for this morning, thank God." 1. We can infer from the following parable that the prisoner's weeping was like A. wedding bells. B. a death sentence. C. a doorbell. "He was a loud... scream... even, rhythmic... like the sound of a bell." 2. The reaction of the Indian spectators, described in the following parable, indicates that A. they agree with the duty of the superintendent. B. disturbed by the prisoner's hanging. C. was relieved that the prisoner was about to die. “They had all changed color. The Indians had turned gray like bad coffee... 3. From the second paragraph we can conclude that the superintendent was waiting for the prisoner to say his prayer because he had A. the same religious beliefs as the prisoner. B. got distracted by something on the floor. C. understood the prisoner's fear and showed him respect. 4. We can see from the passage that the word Chalo was a protest word against hanging. B. Encourage support of hanging. C. Command used to start hanging up. 5. Orwell's description of the prisoner as "dead as a stone" is a simile suggesting that prisoner A. was still and lifeless. B. dirty and round. C. solid and strong. 6. The author implies that the dog A. belonged to the superintendent. B. felt that something terrible had happened. C does not understand what is happening around him. 7. When the Superintendent says "Well, that's all for this morning", he implies that A. might have more executions in the afternoon. B. Only one execution took place that morning. C. There is no other work to do in the morning.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

When the superintendent says, "Okay," he means that while the prisoner is at peace, everyone else is still in shock. B. The prisoner received the punishment he deserved. C. the prisoner wanted to die and got his wish. 9. From the behavior of the Superintendent we can conclude that he was A. a cruel man who enjoyed seeing others executed. B. refused to participate in any more executions after this execution. C. considered executions an uncomfortable part of his duty. 10. We can conclude from the details of this passage and another excerpt from the essay below that the author was probably A. in favor of the death penalty. B. plagued with the death penalty. C. no interest in the issue of the death penalty. “He [the prisoner] and we were a group of men walking together, seeing, hearing, feeling, understanding the same world; And in two minutes, with a sudden crash, one of us would be gone: a fallen mind, a fallen world."

CONCLUSIONS IN GRAPHS AND TABLES You have already tried to draw conclusions from a picture, the cartoon about the father who watches television more than he reads. Many of the cartoons in newspapers and magazines rely on your reasoning skills. Other "pictures" that require inference are graphs and tables that combine words with visual representations. Authors of textbooks, professional and newspaper articles, and other materials often organize large amounts of material into charts and tables. Very often graphs and tables are used to show comparisons and changes that occur over time. As with other reading material, you must consider all the information presented to derive the ideas presented in graphs and tables.

Steps for reading a graph or table To find and understand the information in a graph or table, follow a few steps. 1 Read the title. It will tell you what the overall table or graph is about. • What is the title of the graph on the next page? 2 Check the source. At the end of a table or graph, you will usually find the source of the information, an indication of the reliability of the material. • Where did the graph on the next page come from?

CONCLUSIONS

313

Changes in the US Labor Force, 1900-2010

Source: Statistical Summary, 1999; James M Henslin, 2002

3 Read the labels or captions at the top, side, or below that indicate exactly what each column, row, bar, number, or other element represents. This information includes things like amounts, percentages, and years. • What period of time does the graph cover? • What types of work does the chart cover? 4 After completing the above steps, you can get any information you want from the graph or table.

Check Your Understanding See if you can mark ( / ) the three conclusions that make the most sense based on the diagram. 1. The workforce in 1900 was very different from today's workforce. 2. Before 1900, peasants made up the smallest percentage of workers. 3. In 1940, the percentages of farm workers and clerks were almost equal. 4. In general, the number of employees has increased while the number of supporters and workers has decreased. 5. In 1940, laborers made up about 25 percent of the American labor force. 6. In the future, it is likely that the majority of American workers will be employees.

314

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS IN COLLEGE Explanation:

11.TTL? The movement of the three horizontal lines across the graph shows a significant change in the US labor force since 1900, with a sharp decline in farmers and blue collar workers and a sharp increase in white collar workers. You should have checked this point. 2. On the far left of the graph representing 1900, the lowest of the three horizontal lines is for employees, not farmers. This suggests that, at least briefly before 1900, white-collar workers probably also made up the smallest percentage of the workforce. 3. The graph shows that in 1940 the number of farm workers was much lower than that of white collar workers. 4. The graph shows the decline in peasants and workers accompanied by a steady increase in white-collar workers. You should have checked this point. 5. The graph shows that in 1940 more than 50 percent of American workers were laborers. 6. Given the trends shown in the chart, estimated through 2010, it seems a reasonable assumption that the majority of US workers will be white-collar workers. You should have checked this point.

Exercise 6 Read the table on the next page and follow the steps to read graphs and tables on pages 312-313. Then check {/) on the three conclusions that are most logically based on the table. 1. Most jobs that require short-term training pay about the same as those that require an associate's degree. 2. In general, as the educational needs of a job increase, so does the salary. 3. There will be almost no need for new teachers and teaching assistants in America's classrooms for years to come. 4. Job growth for retail clerks is higher than for security guards. 5. Registered nursing pays well but requires less training than other high-paying jobs. 6. There will be many opportunities in computing, health, education and hospitality in the coming years.

CONCLUSIONS

315

Occupations with the highest employment growth, 2000-2010 (figures in thousands of jobs) Employment

change

profession

2000

2010

Number

salary classification

Food preparation and service personnel, including fast food

2.206

2.879

673

Customer service staff

1.946

2.577

631

Medium-term on-the-job training

registered nurses

2.194

2.755

561

associate degree

retail employees

4.109

4.619

510

Short-term on-the-job training

506

996

490

associate degree

ATM, except gambling

3.325

3.799

474

Short-term on-the-job training

office workers, generals

2.705

3.135

430

sixteen

Short-term on-the-job training

security forces

1.106

1.497

391

Short-term on-the-job training

697

1.361

664

190

graduation

Waiters and waitresses

1.983

2.347

364

Short-term on-the-job training

Heavy truck and semi-truck drivers

1.749

2.095

346

Medium-term on-the-job training

Nursing assistants, nurses and caregivers

1.373

1.697

323

Short-term on-the-job training

Janitors and cleaners, excluding maids and cleaners

2.348

2.665

317

Short-term on-the-job training

high school teachers

1.344

1.659

315

Doctorate

teacher assistants

1.262

1.562

301

Short-term on-the-job training

Computer support specialists

Computer software engineers, applications, system software.

Education and training category Short-term on-the-job training

615

907

291

Short-term on-the-job training

2.084

2.373

289

Short-term on-the-job training

landscaper and gardener

894

1.154

260

Short-term on-the-job training

Personal assistants and home care.

414

672

258

Short-term on-the-job training

Analysts and administrators, networks and computer systems

660

1.105

445

142

graduation

256

Short-term on-the-job training

Home health workers workers and loaders, warehouse and materials, hand

receptionists and information workers

1.078

1.334

Truck drivers, light services or delivery

1.117

1.331

215

Short-term on-the-job training

packer and packer, hand

1.091

1.300

210

Short-term on-the-job training

Elementary school teachers, except special education

1.532

1.734

202

graduation

329

516

187

Medium-term on-the-job training

1.004

1.190

187

graduation

976

1.157

181

graduation

Medical assistants Secondary school teachers, except for special and vocational education Accountants and auditors

Salary qualifications: 1 = very high ($39,700 and up), 2 = high ($25,760 to $39,660), 3 = low ($18,500 to $25,760), and 4 = very low (up to $18,490). Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2002.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

CONSTITUTION REVIEW In this chapter you learned the following: • Many important ideas in reading are not stated directly but must be inferred. To draw conclusions about implicit ideas, use the information provided and your own experience and logic. • Conclusions are also an important part of reading literature and visual materials such as cartoons, charts, and graphs. The next chapter, Chapter 9, will help you realize the author's intent and tone.

On the Web: If you are using this book in your classroom, you can visit our website for additional reasoning exercises. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on online tutorials.

^=-s-=-°-=\

Review Test 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, answer each of the following concluding questions. 1. A conclusion is an idea (stated directly, suggested) by the author. 2. When drawing conclusions, it is (a mistake, useful) to use our own experience, as well as the author's prompts. 3. When drawing conclusions, it is (a mistake, useful) to use our sense of logic as well as the author's suggestions. Four.

RIGHT OR WRONG? A reader must make inferences by finding the meaning of words through context and by finding implied main ideas.

5. Reasoning is a key skill in reading literature because novelists don't mean (tell, show) as much as tell (tell, show).

us what they tell us in vivid, specific detail.

CONCLUSIONS

317

Repeat Test 2 A. (1-4.) Place a check mark ( / ) by the four conclusions that are most logically based on the information in the cartoon. I LOVE RENTING THIS TERAPorVvM 0J0RKER5!

NO BENEFITS FOR EMPLOYEES. . . NO UNION. . . TU5T T055 "EAA I AM THE DURAPSTER IF YOU ARE DOME U I T H TRer\!\

THE DUMP5TER 5EEr\5 SOMETHING INAPPROPRIATE. SON (JAY TOO BIG TO FLUSH. (.

METRO

DILBERT reproduced by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

1. The man with the glasses thinks that the boss is unfair to the temporary workers. 2. The man with the glasses agrees with the behavior of the boss. 3. The boss cares more about saving money than taking care of the employees. 4. The boss feels a little guilty about his treatment of temporary workers. 5. The boss probably hired and fired other temporary workers. 6. The worker in the boss's arms is about to be promoted. 7. The cartoonist implies that temporary workers have no power in the workplace. 8. The cartoonist implies that companies should not hire temporary workers. B. (5-8.) Read the following passage from the textbook, and then put a mark (/) by the four conclusions that are most logically supported by the information given. "Your sister has a new boyfriend. 2 When you first meet him, he corners you and talks you through an hour about football, a subject you're not interested in at all. 3 You get the impression that he's a heartless bore. 4 The next two times you see him, however, he doesn't say a word about football; Instead, he joins the general conversation and makes some witty and intelligent comments. 5What is your impression of him now? 6Based on the last two meetings, what is your impression of him now? find it endearing and interesting? 7 Average the least early and most later and get a neutral zero? 8 They probably aren't. 9 You probably still think of him as a ruthless bore, as research suggests that, as we were told by our fathers and mothers, first impressions are quite lasting 1. The first impression is usually negative 2. It is useful to make a good first impression 3. It is not a good idea to talk about football when you meet someone for the first time.

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

4. To make a good impression, it helps to pay attention to what the other person is interested in. 5. A "neutral zero" impression of someone would be negative. 6. A "neutral zero" impression of someone would be neither positive nor negative. 7. It is not so easy to be objective with others. 8. The second impression can be even stronger than the first impression. C. (9-10.) After reading the following passage, place a mark ( / ) by the two conclusions that are most closely based on the facts given. !

A man talks to the Lord and tries to understand his eternal nature. "Lord," he asks, "what is a million years to you?" 3 “To me a million years is but a second,” declares the Lord. 4 "And a million dollars?" 5 “A penny,” the Lord answers. 6The man feels brave and keeps asking, "Lord, would you give me a million dollars?" 7 "Certainly," answers the Lord. 8 "Just a second." two

1. A million years is a short time compared to eternity. 2. The man will not live long enough to collect the million dollars from him. 3. Lord knows the man would only waste money. 4. The man is poor.

Repeat Test 3 A. (1-4.) Read the graph on the next page. Then put a check mark ( / ) by the four statements that the graph most logically supports. 1. The greatest memory loss occurs in the first twenty minutes after exposure to new material. 2. After a month, most people only remember half of what they learned. 3. In a single day, people are likely to forget more than half of the new material they learned. 4. By the end of a month, people tend to forget 100 percent of the newly learned material. 5. After two days, the forgetting rate slows down dramatically. 6. Since people tend to forget new material, taking notes in class and regularly reviewing are useful learning techniques. 7. A student who sits in class and listens carefully but does not take notes can often perform just as well as a student who takes notes.

CONCLUSIONS

319

Classic study of forgetfulness and memory loss

soy 1

retention (percentage)

i Immediate call back

20 minutes

•zu

4 1 hour ^

20C

quince

Elapsed time (days) Source: Ebbinghaus, 1885

B. Identify each idiom as a simile or a metaphor. Then answer each of the following concluding questions. 5. My mother's furious gaze pierced me like two laser beams. A. Parable B. Metaphor 6. You can conclude that the mother's gaze was A. intense B. exciting and cutting. adventurous.

C out of focus and boring.

7. A tidal wave of bad events overwhelmed the family. A. Parable B. Metaphor 8. Can you conclude that the terrible events were A. Daunting. unexpected b.

C. bearable.

9. Your kind words were as welcome as a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. A. Parable B. Metaphor. 10. You can conclude that the words A. were depressing and B. confused, sad.

C. warm and unexpected.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

^- Resit 4 This is an opportunity to apply your understanding or conclusions to a passage from a college textbook: Essentials of Sociology, Fourth Edition, by James M. Henslin. To help you further strengthen his skills, the reading is followed by questions not only about what he has learned in this chapter, but also what he has learned in previous chapters. words to watch

Below are some words in the reading that do not have strong contextual support. Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). local (6): a doctor-in-training clinch (6): make sure you get effects (8): profound effects (8): important points (10): precisely identified industrialized (11): developed in manufacturing and in sale of goods

GENDER INEQUALITY IN HEALTH CARE AND IN THE WORKPLACE James M. Henslin Gender Inequality in Health Care

Medical researchers were confused. Reports poured in from across the country: Women were twice as likely as men to die after coronary artery bypass surgery. Investigators at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles reviewed their own records. They found that of 2,300 coronary artery bypass graft patients, 4.6 percent of women died as a result of the surgery, compared with 2.6 percent of men. These results presented a sociological conundrum. To solve this, the researchers first turned to biology (Bishop 1990). In coronary bypass surgery, a blood vessel is removed from a part of the body and stitched to a coronary artery on the surface of the heart. Perhaps this operation was more difficult to perform

in women due to their smaller coronary arteries. To find out, the researchers measured how long surgeons kept patients on the heart-lung machine during surgery. They were surprised to learn that women spent less time on the machine than men. This suggested that the surgery was not more difficult to perform in women. When the researchers investigated, a surprising answer emerged: unintentional sex discrimination. Doctors had not taken their patients' chest pain as seriously as their male patients' complaints. Men were ten times more likely to undergo stress tests and radioactive heart scans. They also sent the men to surgery because of abnormal stress tests, but waited until the women showed a clear incision.

Symptoms of coronary artery disease before being sent for surgery. Surgery after the disease has progressed reduces the chances of survival. Obviously, you're also more likely to die if you're sent home from a hospital emergency room with a heart attack. Researchers have also found that when people go to the emergency room with heart pain, doctors are more likely to admit men and send women home (Seiker and Pope 2000).

Women's organs as a cause of disease and a source of profit

Sociologist Sue Fisher (1986), conducting participatory observations in a hospital, was surprised to learn that surgeons recommended total hysterectomy (removal of both the uterus and ovaries) when there was no cancer. When she asked why, the doctors explained that the uterus and ovaries were "potentially pathogenic." They also said that they are unnecessary after childbearing age, so why not remove them? Surgical sexism is fueled by another powerful motive: greed. Figure 1: Women and men in the US workforce.

Year

1910

1930

1950

1970

1990

2010

Quelle: statistical summary 1999

CONCLUSIONS

321

Surgeons earn money by performing this operation. But they have to "sell" the operation because, to underestimate the matter, women are reluctant to part with these organs. Here's how one Resident 0 explained the “hard sell” to sociologist Diana Scully (1994): You have to watch your surgeries; You have to go after the patients. Because no one is crazy enough to come up and say, "Hey, here I am. I want you to operate on me." Sometimes you have to convince the patient that she really is sick, if she is, of course [laughs], and that she would be better off with surgery. In order to 'convince' a woman to have the surgery, the doctor tells her that, unfortunately, the examination has revealed fibroids in the uterus, and that they could turn into cancer. This statement is usually enough because it scares women who imagine dying from cancer. To close the sale, the surgeon hides the rest of the truth: that fibroids are unlikely to turn into cancer, and that she has several non-surgical alternatives. gender inequality in the workplace

One of the key features of the American workforce is a steady increase in the number of women working outside the home for pay. Figure 1 shows that in 1930, one in five American workers was a woman. In 1940 that ratio grew from one to four, in 1960 from one to three, and today it is almost one to two. Because the changes have been so gradual and the effects so profound, sociologists use the term quiet revolution to refer to the many women who have joined the ranks of paid workers. This trend, illustrated in Figure 1, has resulted in a dramatic change in consumption patterns, workplace relationships, self-concepts,

322

TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

and relationships with friends, spouses, and children. One of the most significant consequences of the quiet revolution is that since the 1960s the proportion of married women with preschool-age children in paid work has tripled. It is now equal to the average percentage of all American women. The gender pay gap

There is a good chance that you will go to work after graduation. Would you like to earn an additional $950,000 for your work? If that sounds appealing, read on. I'll reveal how you can earn an extra $2,000 a month between the ages of 25 and 65. Is that hard to do? It's actually easy for some but impossible for others. All you have to do is be born a male and graduate from college. As Figure 2 shows, the average male college graduate earns much more over the course of his career when compared to full-time employees. Almost no single factor shows 0 gender discrimination better than this sum. Outside

This figure also shows that the wage gap is evident at all educational levels. The pay gap is so wide that full-time working women11 earn, on average, only two-thirds (67 percent) of what men earn. As Figure 3 shows, the pay gap used to be even bigger. This gap is not unique to the United States. All industrialized nations have it, although only Japan has a larger gap than the United States (Blau and Kahn 1992). On what logic can the gender pay gap be based 12? We saw earlier that college degrees are gender specific, so perhaps this gap is due to career choices. Perhaps women are more likely to choose lower-paying jobs, such as elementary school teachers, while men are more likely to enter higher-paying fields, such as business, law, and engineering. In fact, that's true, and researchers have found that about half of the pay gap is due to those factors. However, the rest are due to gender discrimination (Kemp 1990). So, depending on your gender, you are likely to benefit from gender discrimination or be a victim of it. Why the pay gap will be so important

Figure 2: The gender pay gap by education (full-time employees in all fields) $80,000 $70,000 I

WOMEN

$60.000 §

50.000 $

§• $40,000 or > E

30.000 $

27.638 $

$20,000 $10,000 0 high school dropouts

secondary students

Any university, no degree

associate degree

Degree or higher

Quelle: statistical summary 1999

$3,296 $3,816 year

1960

1965

1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

2000

2005

Quelle: statistical summary 1999

CONCLUSIONS

Let's follow some college grads into their own working lives to see how it really happens. Economists Rex Fuller and Richard Schoenberger (1991) studied the starting salaries of business students at the University of Wisconsin, 47 percent of whom were women. They found that women's starting salaries were, on average, 11 percent ($1,737) lower than men's. 14 You may be able to think of valid reasons for this initial pay gap. For example, women might have been less qualified. Maybe his grades were worse. Or maybe they did fewer internships. If so, they would earn lower wages. To find out, Fuller and Schoenberger checked the

323

university records. To their surprise, they found that women had better grades and more internships. In other words, women were offered lower salaries for equal qualifications, and lower salaries for higher qualifications, a classic lose-lose situation. What happened after these 15 graduates were on the job for a while? Has the trend converged that, after a few years, women and men earned roughly the same amount? Fuller and Schönberger revised their salaries five years later. Instead of narrowing, the wage gap had widened further. At the time, women earned 14 percent ($3,615) less than men.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

reading comprehension questions

Vocabulary in context 1. In A.B.C.D.

In the following excerpt, the word tested (probd) means determined. examined. knew all the time. Abandoned. "When the researchers did some digging, they came up with a surprising answer: inadvertent sex discrimination." (Paragraph 3)

Central point and main idea 2. Which sentence best expresses the central point of the choice? A. In a group of business administration graduates, women, who were just as qualified as men, were offered lower salaries than men. B. Doctors have treated men better than women. C. A great way to increase your lifetime income is to earn a college degree. D. Discrimination against women exists in the country's health systems and workplace. support for

details

3. Doctors found that A. coronary bypass surgery is more difficult to perform in people with smaller coronary arteries. B. rarely done in women. C. No more difficult to perform in women than in men. D. More success in patients with severely advanced heart disease. Transitions 4. The following theorem expresses a relation of A. Addition. B. Comparison. C. Contrast. time D. "They... sent the men to surgery based on abnormal stress tests, but waited until the women showed clear symptoms of coronary artery disease..." (paragraph 3) pattern

of the organization 5. Paragraph 12 A. addresses the possible causes of the gender pay gap. B. List instances of the wage gap by occupation. C. defines and illustrates the wage gap in the US workforce. D. compares similar wage expectations for men and women.

CONCLUSIONS

325

Facts and opinions 6. Paragraph 1 consists of A. Facts. B. Opinions. Conclusions 7. The author has placed the words "sell", "sell hard" and "persuade" in quotation marks (in paragraph 6) to indicate that some surgeons A. need to be convinced of the need to dissect the uterus and remove the ovaries woman. B. consider total hysterectomy as a cost-effective procedure that requires good sales skills. C. Not realizing that fibroids are unlikely to develop into cancer and therefore surgery may not be needed. D. They are not qualified or experienced enough to safely perform a total hysterectomy. 8. Figure 1 suggests that A. Within a few years, women will likely make up half of the US workforce. For example, the proportion of women in the labor force has increased almost continuously since the early 20th century. C. At the beginning of the 20th century, a working mother was considered unusual. All previous. 9. Figure 2 suggests that A. College-educated women earn less than college-educated men. B. Women are better off not working for a college degree. C. More education reduces the wage gap between men and women. D. Men and women are paid unequally at all levels of education. 10. From Figure 3 we can deduce that A. Men's wages did not change significantly between 1960 and 2000. B. The gender gap actually widened between 1990 and 1995. C. In the near future, it is likely that women's wages catch up with men's. D. In the near future, it is likely that men's wages will remain the same.

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

discussion questions

it is health care for "involuntary sex discrimination." How can such clear discrimination be "unintentional"? Do you know of cases of health discrimination based on gender? Tell me what happened. 2. According to Henslin, both women and men benefit from gender discrimination in the US workplace. Have you ever experienced or witnessed gender discrimination in the workplace? Tell me what happened. 3. Henslin claims that a "quiet revolution" took place in the last century. He shares what he thinks are some of the changes he refers to when he mentions “a transformation in consumer behavior, relationships in the workplace, self-image, and relationships with friends, spouses, and children.” He also describes any benefits or problems he thinks the changes have caused. 4. Were you surprised to learn that women in modern American society earn significantly less than men? To explain. What does she believe are the causes of the gender gap and what do you think needs to happen for it to stop? Note: To write tasks for this selection, see page 589.

See your performance activity

CONCLUSIONS Correct Number

Points

score

(5 item)

Verification Test 2 (10 items)

Verification Test 3 (10 items)

Repeat test 4 (10 items)

repeat test 1

TOTAL SCORE

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

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RESULT: (correct number)

x10

I NFERENCES : Mastery Test 1

A. Put a check mark ( / ) by the three conclusions that most logically are based on the information suggested by the cartoon. WONDERFUL IS RIGHT) JUST GET OUT OF THE ROOM.'

/ YOU CAN'T TAKE

V^PESTRuaivE C R I T I C I S M ! / !

(A jyJBter ." ' i c \ I

' '*' YO

H__j-yo

II-* PEANUTS Reproduced by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

_ ^ T 1 • Lucy just criticized the boy Linus. 2. Linus thinks that Lucy's criticism is justified. 3. Lucy feels very guilty that Linus has taken her criticism badly. _LL"A. Lucy doesn't seem to realize that people can accept constructive criticism but not destructive criticism. 5. The cartoonist thinks we should never criticize others. [/' 6. The cartoonist thinks it's better to criticize others. others in a constructive manner B. Read the following passage, then circle the three conclusions that are most logically supported by the information given: "Shortly after boarding the bus, the young woman lit a cigarette. The man next to her The woman waved the smoke a little, and pointed to the sign in front of the bus.3 The woman did not turn to look at the man and continued smoking calmly.4 The man got up and spoke to the bus driver, who continued driving and shook his head. head.5 Al At the next stop, the man got off the bus with a disgusted face.

1. The man had never smoked. L/ 2. The smoke bothered the man. L^3. The man pointed to a no-smoking sign. . // 4. The driver refused to intervene. 5. The man got off the bus because it was his stop. 6. The driver was a relative of the woman. (continued on next page) 327

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C. Read each passage below. Then, after each passage, mark the two conclusions that are most logically supported by the information given.

My day is not over yet. 2 Coming home, I suddenly realize I have thirty to forty pounds of fish to clean, still rock fish, all full of bones and spines and razor-sharp teeth. 3When I'm done I'll have so many holes in me that I'll look like a cross between George Custer, Saint Sebastian and Bonnie and Clyde, but my family comes out to see the trick and restore my faith in the whole company. 4 “Yuk”, says my daughter. 5 "That's a lot of redfish for people who don't like redfish," my wife says. 6 "I wouldn't eat that on a bet," says my son. 1. The family is on vacation. //- 2. Scorpionfish are difficult to clean. 3. The author's family appreciates his hard work in supporting them. 4. The man enjoys the challenge of cleaning rock fish. x

'- 5. When he praises his family for restoring his faith, the author is sarcastic. two.

*I think I did it because I didn't study much. 2 And it seemed so easy: everyone knows that Mr. Wagner keeps the office door open for him. 3 It's a pity it didn't work for me. 4Now my classmates are mad at me because they have to study for the new test that Mr. Wagner is catching up on. 5 My parents took my car keys. 6And what's worse, I have to go to biology summer school. __L 1. The speaker stole an exam. 2. The speaker had failed the course. 3. The speaker deeply regrets not having studied more. 4. The speaker will never cheat again. I/5. The speaker does not seem to have a guilty conscience for what he did.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Date X10

I NFERENCES : mastery test 2

A. Read the following passage. Then, in the spaces provided, write the letter of the most logical answer to each question, based on the information in the passage. "My friends don't have friends. 2They're men. 3They think they have friends, and if you ask them if they have friends, they'll tell you yes, but they don't really. 4They think, for example, that I'm their friend, but I'm not. is in order 6They are not my friends either. 7 The reason for this is that we are all men, and I believe that men cannot or do not want to have true friends. 8They have something else, mate, mate, mate, mate, someone to drink and someone for lunch, but no one when it comes to saying how they feel, especially how they hurt.9 Women know it, 10 talk about it among themselves.nFor women, this inability of men to express their feelings is a source of wonder, after fear and finally betrayal 12 Women will keep telling you that they don't know the men they live with 13 They talk about long silences and estrangement and hiding feelings and never saying anything about problems or worries or whatever 1. We can conclude that the author of this p asaje A. has real friends. B. believes that men do not need true friends. C. feels that something prevents men from having real friends. ¥/

2. We can conclude that the author A. is proud that he can share his feelings better than other men. B. believes that women want the men in their lives to share their feelings, c. he believes that men have more hurt feelings than women.

3. We can conclude that the author believes that A. women have real friends. B. prefer “strong and calm” men. C. he understands why men don't talk about their feelings. 4. We can conclude that the author thinks A. The men realize that they have no friends. B. Women should try to be more like men when it comes to friendship. C. Relationships with men are not deep enough to be true friendships.

(continued on next page) 329

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B. Read the following passage from an essay titled “Darkness at Noon” by Harold Krents, a lawyer blind from birth. He then circles the six statements that are most logically supported by the information given. Please note that the meaning of two words in the passage is given below. narcissistic: self-admiration cum laude: with honor “Blind from birth, I have never had the opportunity to see myself and have been totally dependent on the image I create in the eye of the beholder. 2To date he has not been a narcissist0. 3 Some assume that since I can't see, obviously I can't hear either. 4 Very often people talk to me at the top of their lungs, pronouncing each word with great care. 5 On the contrary, people will often whisper, assuming that since my eyes don't work, my ears don't work either. 6 For example, when I go to the airport and ask for help at the ticket office with the plane, he or she inevitably picks up the phone, calls a flight attendant, and whispers, "Hi, Jane, we have a 76 here." 7I come to that conclusion It has happened that the word "blind" is not used for one of two reasons: either they fear that the ticket seller's retina will detach as soon as the dreaded word is uttered, or they are reluctant to inform me of my condition. I may not have been aware of this beforehand. 8 On the other hand, others know that, of course, I can listen, but they think that I cannot speak. 9 As a result, when my wife and I go out to dinner, a waiter or waitress often asks Kit if she "got anything to do. I want a drink," to which I reply, "Of course I do." . . 10 The Biggest Fallacy Of All Is The Vision I Can't Work Because I Can't See UI was founded by over forty lawyers Rejected from law firms because of my blindness, even though my qualifications included a degree cum laude from Harvard University and an honor grade in my class at Harvard Law School. *

I. It would offend Krents if people used the word "blind" in reference to him. ^£ 2. The airline code for a stowaway was '76'. and v 3. It is better to whisper to the blind than to speak aloud to them. and 4. Krents prefers people to speak to him in a normal tone of voice. 5. Sighted people sometimes feel uncomfortable directing a conversation to a blind person. . Krent's wife is not blind. N7.

Blindness seems to damage a person's intelligence.

\_/ 8. Some employers are prejudiced against blind workers. -4. 9. Harvard is obviously biased towards blind students. W10. Krents is open about his blindness.

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dice x 10

I NFERENCES : Mastery Test 3 A. Read the following passage from television journalist Linda Ellerbee's autobiographical book, Move On. Then, in the spaces provided, she writes the letter of the most logical answer to each question, based on the information in the passage. “TV changed my family forever. 2 We stopped eating at the dining room table after my mother found out about TV trays. 3We put the TV trays behind the kitchen door and help ourselves to pots on the stove. 4Before, my job was to set and remove the dining room table; Now tidying up meant unfolding and cleaning our TV trays, and then when we were done cleaning and folding our TV trays. 5Dinner was served on time for one program and finished on time for another. 6At dinner we used to talk to each other. 7Now television spoke to us. 8 If you absolutely had to say something, you waited until the commercial, which I assume taught me to speak in 30 second blocks. 9As a future writer, editing my thoughts was good practice. 10 When I was a child, I was very lonely. "She Every once in a while she would pass our dining room table and I would stop, thinking that she had heard our spirits sitting there talking and saying things to each other.

J=-

a C

1. From this it can be concluded that as a child Ellerbee A. preferred to eat at the dining room table than in front of the TV. B. she was glad she didn't have to clean and set the dining room table, c. she wanted her parents to watch television shows that she enjoyed. 2. Ellerbee suggests that A.TV can help people feel less alone. B. It is possible to feel lonely even when others are around, c. Talking to others does not help reduce loneliness. 3. We can conclude that at Ellerbee A.'s home, Ellerbee's mother knew that Ellerbee was not satisfied with the television. B. There were no other children for Ellerbee to talk to. C. Watching television became more important than talking and listening to family members. 4. We can conclude that Ellerbee remembered better times with her family by imagining ghosts. B. she was afraid to walk past the dining room. C. she realized that her childhood home was haunted.

B. (5-6.) Read the following passage from the textbook. Then circle the two statements that are most logically supported by the information given. “UC Berkeley swim team had a practice. 2After a race, the coach gave each swimmer his time, but it was not his actual time. 3The Trainer has faked time and made him slower than he really was. 4During the next race, the coach watched what happened. 5Some of his swimmers were swimming significantly faster than before, while others were swimming significantly slower than their usual pace. (continued on next page) 331

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I. The Berkeley swim coach expected his swimmers to respond exactly as they did. (jt/Some of the Berkeley swimmers probably knew about the experiment from their coach before it happened. 3. Giving athletes disappointing news is the best way to improve their performance. (4^"Disappointing performance news can make some athletes make people work harder, -\ and perform better 5i People's ability to perform certain tasks is often related to their thoughts and attitudes (7-10) Read the next paragraph and then circle in circle the four statements that are most logically supported by the information provided.” In 1995, the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that “Advertising to children is inherently misleading and exploits children under the age of eight.”2 The Academy did not recommend banning such advertising, as it seemed impractical and would violate advertisers' freedom Today, the health risks facing children at the Nat are exposed, well beyond the needs of their mass marketers, to many foods high in fat and sugar. “Thirty years ago, as a public health measure, Congress banned cigarette advertising on radio and television, and those ads were directed at adults. 6Smoking has since declined. 7 Banning the advertising of unhealthy foods to children would discourage eating habits that are not only difficult to break but potentially life-threatening. 8In addition, such a ban would encourage fast food chains to change the recipes of their children's meals. “A significant reduction in the fat content of McDonald's Happy Meals, for example, could have a direct impact on the nutrition of the nation's children. ,0 Every month, more than 90 percent of children in the United States eat at McDonald's. me

•s

ME. Cigarette advertising was effective in encouraging people to continue smoking.

''•\M--\JJL c?

_V 2. The author values the freedom of expression of advertisers, especially in relation to commercials directed at children. 3. The author believes that the number of children at risk of health problems due to poor nutrition has increased since 1995. (/ The author believes that advertisers' right to freedom of expression is less important than the health of nation's children TV commercials and other advertisements are likely to have little impact on children's behavior > The author believes that fast food Chains can be persuaded to stop voluntarily advertising unhealthy foods for children young children The author points out that poor eating habits in children are as serious a health problem as smoking in adults.

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I NFERENCES : mastery test 4

A. After reading the following passage from the textbook, write the letter of the best answer to each question. 1

Suppose a man works in a factory six or seven days a week trying to support his family, but can never seem to make ends meet. 2If I rationally analyzed his situation, he would probably blame the rich in general and his employers in particular for not paying him a decent salary. 3But these people have power to cut off their income; to oppose them openly would be self-destructive. 4 It is possible that he also blames himself for his financial problems, but that also worries him. 5 Instead, he looks to the immigrants who have begun working in his factory. 6He doesn't really know them, but he suspects that they are willing to work for low wages and that many other immigrants are eager to do their job. 7By a process of twisted logic, he blames these people for his poverty. 8He soon trades rumors about "them" with his friends and supports efforts to close the border. 9 Hating immigrants makes the man and his friends feel a little better. 1. We can conclude that the author of the passage thinks A. Factory workers are not good with money. B. all the workers in the factory are underpaid /c/ the man in the example is underpaid. 2. We can conclude that author A agrees with what the man in the example thinks. B. he believes that employers and other wealthy people should only hire immigrants. fc.) criticizes both the man in the example and his wealthy employers. 3. We can conclude that the man in example A. is likely to have many friends and neighbors who are immigrants. ^B) understands what immigrants think and knows their problems, c. he has no understanding or significant contact with immigrants. 4. We can conclude from the passage that FPD immigrants are eager to take other people's jobs. B. the man in the example would probably be opposed to hiring immigrants, c. Most immigrants do not do their job as well as domestic workers. 5. The passage suggests that (A) some people feel better when they think less of others. B. Immigration must be limited or reduced to protect workers' jobs, c. Employers make the mistake of hiring immigrants when domestic workers are available. (continued on next page) 333

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B. Read the following passage from the textbook. Then, in the space provided, he writes the letter of the best answer to each question.

• People interrupt for a variety of reasons. 2One believes that what he has to say is more important than what the other person says. 3Another reason people interrupt is because they think they know what the other person is going to say and they want the person to know that they already know. 4People can also interrupt if they are not paying close attention. 5The interruption communicates a lack of sensitivity, an attitude of superiority, or both. 6 people must be able to fully verbalize their ideas and feelings; Inappropriate interruptions will inevitably damage their self-image or make them hostile, and possibly both. 7In short, anything you have to say is rarely so important that it requires you to interrupt a person. 8When you interrupt, keep in mind that you may appear to be putting someone down. 9The more frequent the interruptions, the greater the potential damage. _ 6. The author of the above passage points out that people do not feel good when others listen attentively to their ideas. B. who interrupt don't mind being interrupted themselves, c. You must learn not to take offense when interrupted. 7. ^The author suggests that people may interrupt because [j/. do not realize that the speaker is in the middle of a point. B. They are nervous and want to be liked and respected. C. are angry with the speaker. 8. The author suggests that A. It is okay to interrupt others when you feel superior to them. B. You will never be interrupted if you don't interrupt others. ?0. Interruptions can make people feel like your ideas aren't worth listening to. 9. We can conclude from this paragraph that A. It is okay for a father to interrupt his child. fwhether a boss will gain more cooperation by not interrupting workers, c. the author of the passage has never been interrupted in conversation. 10. The passage suggests that people who interrupt A. can usually predict what others will think about their behavior. fiD does not always know how the other person will view the interruption, c. You don't have to worry about guessing what other people think of them.

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I NFERENCES : Mastery Test 5 A. (1-4.) Read the following table. Then circle the four statements that are most logically based on the table. Electoral participation in the democracies of the world

Tierra

approximate participation

automatic registration

Is Election Day a holiday or weekend?

Belgium

90%

Italia

90%

Denmark

85%

Austria

80%

France

80%

Germany

80%

Britain

70%

You've got

Sixty-five%

Japan

60%

USA

50%

Quelle: Thomas E. Patterson, American Democracy, 2001.

1. About a third of voters in the United States do not vote. 2. Election Day holidays tend to increase voter turnout. 3. Voter turnout could increase if the United States had automatic voter registration and an election holiday. 4. The low turnout in the United States likely has little to do with automatic voter registration or the election holiday. 5. Factors that have increased voter turnout in other countries have not worked as well in Japan. 6. Compared to the United States, other countries make it easier for voters to participate in elections. 7. Voter turnout would be better if elections were held on weekends instead of holidays. 8. Voter turnout would be better if elections were held on holidays instead of weekends. (continued on next page) 335

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B. (5-10.) In the spaces provided, write the letter of the answer to each inference question. 5. My mother gave me a river of love that is still with me. You can conclude that the mother's love was A. abundant and B. unexpected and endless. insecure.

C. suffocating and dangerous.

6. The table saw assembly instructions were as helpful as a camel in the arctic. You can deduce that the instructions A. were not in English. B. useless.

C. extremely useful.

7. The detective had a mind like a computer. You can conclude that the detective was A. cold and B. brilliantly impersonal. playful.

C. logical and fast

8. Some people say that television is gum for the mind. You can conclude that these people watch television as A. educational. B. High-quality entertainment. C. as good for the mind as junk food is for the body. 9. It seemed to me that the new telephone system could launch a nuclear missile. From this it can be concluded that the new telephone system is A. amazingly B. inexpensive. Complicated.

C. easy to use.

10. "What a surprise to see you here," he said, icicles dripping from each syllable. From this it can be concluded that the speaker A. feels uncomfortably cold. B. does not like the person he is talking to. C. happy to meet the other person unexpectedly.

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RESULT: (correct number)

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I NFERENCES : mastery test 6

A. Below is a well-known poem by the American poet Carl Sandburg. Read the poem and then select the conclusions that are most logically supported by the information given. Note that in the poem Sandburg refers to five battlefields where many died (Austerlitz, Waterloo, Gettysburg, Ypres, and Verdun). The grass piles up the bodies at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Pass them and let me work: I am the grass; I cover them all And stack them high at Gettysburg and stack them high at Ypres and Verdun. Grab them and let me work. Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the driver: ("ft" *s• Where is this? Where are we now? I am the grass. Let me work. ^—

-£

1. The poem refers to the bodies of A. the living. B. all deceased. fjp those who died in wars. 2. The poet suggests that A. the war dead were never found. (B. j'there were numerous deaths during the wars, c. there were fewer deaths than one would suppose.

pL C

3. The supposed speaker of the poem is A. a train passenger. B. the grass. C. a conductor. 4. The poet implies that A. time passes too slowly. B. Wars mark the land forever. C. even bloody battlefields can be cleansed by time and nature. 5. The poet implies that the work of nature survives the work of man. B. Man and nature are equal partners, c. Man's work will outlive whatever nature does. (continued on next page) 337

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B. The following is an excerpt from A Hole in the World, an autobiographical account by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes. Read the passage and then select the conclusions that are most logically supported by the information given. “We played dodgeball during the break. 2Dodgeball was my sport. 3I was light and fast and often managed to avoid falling until I was the last of my team in the circle, the winner of the round. 4My friend used to be my competition. 5 One day I made fun of him too much when he lost and I won. 6 After that, he gathered a group of classmates around him, including the girl I dreamed of. 7 They came walking and surrounded me. 8 They smiled, and I thought they were kind; I didn't think to avoid it. 9The boys grabbed me. 10My friend led them. u "You suck", he told me cheerfully. 12 "We think you're dirty. l3 We want to see." 14 They ripped the straps off my pants, raised my arms, and pulled off my torn shirt. 15 They exposed my dirt, my black armpits, my dirty neck for all to see. 16 The faces of these children, including the girl in front, full of horror, perverted with joy. .7 I got down the only way I could and threw myself on the asphalt of the playground. 18 They formed a circle around me, laughing and pointing. 19 I couldn't leave. 20 I covered my head and drew up my knees. 21I knew how to make myself invisible. 22 I had learned to make myself invisible when my stepmother attacked. 23It worked because I couldn't see her, even though she could still see me. 24 I have made myself invisible. 25They couldn't hear me cry. 6. We can deduce from the passage that the author's friend A^ took pity on him. CB/ I wanted to embarrass him. C. I did not expect the other children to laugh.

tj&

7. We can conclude from the passage that the girl in the crowd fk/. made the author's humiliation even greater. s*L had strong feelings for the author. C. was against making fun of the author. 8. The author implies that his stepmother A. loved him very much. B. worried about him. ? C.) abused him. 9. We can conclude from the passage that the author (TR.J was probably not well cared for at home. ~B. he was generally clean but that day he was dirty. c. he expected the children to make fun of him for his dirtiness 10. We can conclude that when the perpetrator became "invisible", A. he actually put others out of sight, B. he was free from injuries caused by the other children, C. the other children stopped making fun of him.

9 Purpose and tone Behind everything you read is an author, a person with thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Whether that person is a sportswriter, newspaper columnist, novelist, or friend sending you a letter, he or she is working from a personal point of view. This point of view is reflected in (1) the purpose of a text and (2) its tone: the expression of the author's attitude and feeling. Both purpose and tone are discussed in this chapter.

PURPOSE Authors write for a reason, and you can best evaluate their ideas by identifying that reason. The purpose of the author's writing is also known as the purpose of a selection. The three general purposes are the following: / f • Inform: give information on a topic. Writers with this goal want to provide facts that explain or teach the reader something. For example, the author of an informational paragraph about sandwiches might begin: "Eating food between two slices of bread, a sandwich, is a practice that originated in 18th-century England." author to agree on a topic. Authors for this purpose may provide facts, but their main purpose is to argue or prove a point to readers. The author of a persuasive paragraph about sandwiches might begin: "There are good reasons why all sandwiches should be made on whole wheat bread." • Entertain: amuse and delight; to appeal to the senses and imagination of the reader. Authors with this goal entertain in a variety of ways, through fiction and nonfiction. The author of an entertaining paragraph about sandwiches might begin: "What I wanted was a midnight snack, but what I got was better: the biggest and most magical sandwich in the world."

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

Although the covers and titles of everything you read (books, articles, etc.) don't necessarily indicate the main purpose of the author, they often do. Here are the covers of three books. See if you can guess the main purpose of each of these books.

Primary purpose: A. inform B. persuade C. entertain

As you have probably guessed, the main purpose of the textbook is to inform; The main purpose of The Overspent American is to persuade; and the main purpose of Dave Barry's novel is to entertain.

Check Your Understanding Read each of the next three paragraphs and decide if the author wants to inform, persuade, or entertain. Write your answers and then read the following explanations. 1.

Every Saturday morning, television commercials promote fast food and high-calorie cereals directly to children. These ads teach children about unhealthy eating habits and have been linked to childhood obesity. Parents need to realize how harmful these ads are and put pressure on companies to stop marketing unhealthy products to children. Objective:

PURPOSE AND TONE

341

According to scientific estimates, about 113 billion people have lived and died in the history of our planet. Of all these people, about 7 billion, or about 6 percent, have their names recorded in some way: on monuments or in books, manuscripts, and public records. The other 106 billion people have disappeared without a trace. Objective:

Due to the conflict between his medium-sized shirts and pants and his oversized figure, my brother has committed to eating only three meals a day. However, his definition of his meal is as wide as his belly. For example, if on the way to the restaurant we see a pretzel vendor or a hot dog stand, he immediately advises us to stop. "It's going to be a good start," he says. Objective:

Explanation:

In the first paragraph, the author wants to persuade the audience that parents should oppose the marketing of unhealthy products to children. Words like "must" in "must acknowledge" and "should" in "should print" are meant to convince rather than inform us. The purpose of the second paragraph is informational. The author simply provides readers with information about the people who have lived and died on earth. In paragraph 3, the playful and exaggerated details tell us that the author's main concern is to entertain with humor.

A Note on Writing for More Than One Purpose Writing can sometimes combine two or even all three purposes. For example, a persuasive letter to an editor may contain factual information, or an informative article on weight loss may contain comedic accents and implicit persuasion. • What do you think is the main purpose of this book? A. Inform

B to convince

C. To entertain

If you chose answer A, you're right: my main goal is to inform and exercise. But sometimes I also have two other purposes. For example, on the first page (page 10) of an earlier section, “Read with Joy and Power,” what is my main purpose? A. Inform

B to convince

C. To entertain

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TEN STEPS TO IMPROVE COLLEGE READING SKILLS

My main goal on page 10 was to convince you of the importance of becoming a regular reader. You will also find that I have included in this book very interesting readings like the story of Lizzie Borden (page 483) or fun passages like the one about not stepping on the Hour (page 301). What is my purpose in selecting such content? A. Inform

B to convince

C. talk

While my primary purpose is to inform, sometimes I have a second and even third purpose: to persuade and entertain. And the same goes for other authors. The thing to remember when trying to determine purpose is to ask yourself, "What is the author's primary purpose here?" y^ Exercise 1 Label each point according to its main purpose: to inform (I), to persuade (P), or to entertain (E). 1. Professional athletes do not deserve their inflated salaries, nor does their behavior deserve so much media attention. 2. The career of a professional athlete is usually quite short. 3. Nurses assigned to intensive care units should be given shorter shifts and higher salaries, as the job is unusually demanding and stressful. 4. On average, women dream more than men and children dream more than adults. 5. If you feel the urge to move, it is best to lie down quickly in a dark room until the feeling goes away. 6. Quitting smoking is easy; I've done it hundreds of times. 7. More women should get involved in local politics and support the growing number of women running for public office. 8. An artificial smell is added to natural gas so that one can tell if the gas is leaking or not. 9. As soon as football season starts, Matt starts jogging every night, to the fridge during commercial breaks. 10. The first person to die from radiation poisoning was a co-discoverer of radium, Marie Curie.

PURPOSE AND TONE

343

Exercise 2 Three passages follow, one from a textbook, a humor book, and a collection of essays. In the spaces provided, write the letter that best describes the purpose of each passage. 1. “We have all heard the story of how the impoverished young Abraham Lincoln would walk miles to borrow books from a neighbor and then read them by firelight. 2We know that in the 19th century, readers ran to the pier to greet the ship with the last chapters of a Dickensian novel. 3Today, reading seems less urgent and less exciting for many of us. 4 Worse yet, few people instill a passion for books in their children. 5 Instead, they leave the children in front of the TV, in the vague hope that too much TV won't hurt them. 6But we cannot afford to stop reading. 7Books shed light on our problems and crises. 8 They are also mirrors that reflect the most authentic image of ourselves. The main purpose of this passage is to tell A. the readers something about Abraham Lincoln and Dickens. B. Convince readers of the importance of books. C. delight readers with entertaining material from the books. 2. “Most of what I know about carpentry, which is almost nothing, I learned in the workshop. 2You should know that during the Eisenhower administration, I took Shop when boys took Shop and girls home economics, a code name for "kitchen." 3Schools are no longer allowed to separate boys and girls in this way. 4Also, they are not allowed to put students' heads in vises and tighten them like our shop teacher Mr. Smith did with Ronnie Miller in fifth grade when Ronnie used a chisel when he should have used a screwdriver. 5 (Mr. Smith had strong feelings about how to use tools correctly.) 6 I guess I shouldn't have put Ronnie's head in the vise, but (Ronnie's head) wasn't much of a loot to begin with, and you I can bet Ronnie will never mix chisels and screwdrivers in the future, as long as have reached adulthood. The primary purpose of this passage is to A. inform readers about the nature of shop classes. B. argue that store instruction should be abolished in public schools. C. Entertain readers with humorous details about shop classes. 3. “Job satisfaction studies show that the vast majority of workers are at least somewhat satisfied with their job and would continue to work even if they didn't have to. 2The meaning of the work varies from

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from person to person. 3For some it is a source of self-esteem and purpose in life. 4For others, work is a hobby. 5For others, it is primarily a source of financial independence. 6Among women, available work is often less satisfying than domestic work. 7Most women, however, report higher self-esteem when they are employed, especially when they have the support of their families. The main purpose of this section is to A. report on what has been learned from studies of job satisfaction. B. Convince readers of the importance of job satisfaction. C. Entertain readers with rich and sensual descriptions of job satisfaction.

TONE An author's tone reveals his attitude toward a subject. The tone is expressed through the words and details the author chooses. Just as a speaker's voice can project a variety of feelings, a writer's voice can project one or more tones or feelings: anger, compassion, hope, sadness, respect, disgust, etc. Understanding tone is therefore an important part of understanding what an author has written. To understand the differences in tone writers can use, look at the following versions of a murder confession. Then read them aloud in the proper intonation. "I just shot my husband five times in the chest with this .357 Magnum." (Tone: serious, serious.) "How could I have ever killed him? I just can't believe I did this!" (Sound: surprised, incredulous.) "Oh my God. I murdered my husband. How can I be forgiven for this horrible act?" (Sound: guilty, sorry) "That filthy rat. He's been waiting for him for years. I'm glad I finally had the courage to do it." (Tone: vindictive, smug.) >*- Exercise 3 Below are five responses to a flat fender accident (where a car smashed the rear fender of another car that was touched and slightly damaged). Label each statement with the tone of voice you think is present. Select each shade from the chart below and use each shade only once.

PURPOSE AND TONE

A. apologizing D. quiet

B. defensive E. angry

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C affected

1. "Are you hurt? Are you sure you're okay? Don't move too fast. Take your time getting out of the car." 2. "I'm so sorry. I dreamed a bit, which is no excuse. I should have been more careful." 3. "You idiot! If you hadn't stopped, I never would have hit you. You should have gone to jail. You could have killed us both." 4. "It's not a big deal. None of us were hurt, that's all that matters. The damage is minor. Don't worry." 5. "Hey, that wasn't my fault. Don't even think about blaming me. You're the one who quit too early, not me. I didn't do anything wrong here."

Words that describe sound Below and on the next page are two lists of words that are commonly used to describe sound. With the exception of the words factual and objective, the words reflect a feeling or judgment. The words on this page are more familiar. For the words on the next page, the brief meanings are given in parentheses. If necessary, refer to these meanings to learn words you don't know yet. Some words that describe sound

admiring affectionate funny angry apology embarrassed reassuring affectionate cheerful smug worried critical

Cruel Curious Defensive Doubtful Encouraging Excited Forgiving Scared Grateful Humorous Offensive Joyful

affectionate playful praising respectful self-pity serious sad sympathetic threatening tragic warm worried

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More words describing sound - with their meaning

ambivalent arrogant confused bitter compassionate depressed incredulous incredulous desperate hypocritical passionate indignant instructive ironic joyful realistic mocking nostalgic realistic optimistic pessimistic supplicant proud regretful vengeful sarcastic conniving mocking self-deprecating sentimental solemn sincere superior tolerant insecure

(unsure about a choice) (full of conceit; conceited) (confused; confused) (angry; hateful) (deeply compassionate) (very sad or discouraged) (emotionally unconcerned) (incredulous) (sad anguish, misery or pain ) (wrong) (full of strong feelings) (angry about something unfair or mean) (teaching) (meaning the opposite of what is expressed) (happy and carefree) (sticking to the facts; unemotional) (making fun of and/or looking down) (longing for something or someone in the past) (not influenced by feelings or personal prejudices) (looking at the positive side of things) (looking at the dark and unfavorable side of things) (begging) (full of pride or inflated self-esteem) (guilty of a mistake you made) (wanting to hurt someone in exchange for hurting them) (sharp or hurtful; ironic) (complicated) (putting down someone or something) (making fun of something in or putting yourself down same) (show tender feelings; romantic; other emotionally affected) (involved in serious concerns) (direct and honest) (putting others down) (respectful of other views and behaviors, dealing with problems patiently) (doubtful)

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Check Your Understanding Below are five statements that express different attitudes towards a dilapidated apartment. Five different shades are used: optimistic bitter

sentimental tolerant

humorous

Feel free to consult the list on page 346 to learn the meaning of words with unknown sounds. Label each statement with the tone you think is present. Use each shade once. Then read the explanation below. 1. This place can be seedy, but since both of my children were born while we lived here, it holds a special place in my heart. 2. This isn't the best apartment in the world, but it's not that bad either. 3. If only there were some decent jobs, I wouldn't be reduced to this miserable hole. 4. This place needs some TLC, but I'm sure the owner will make improvements soon. 5. When we move in, we plan to release three hundred cockroaches and two mice so that we can leave the place exactly as we found it. Explanation:

The tone of point 1 is sentimental. "It has a special place in my heart" she expresses tender feelings. In point 2, the words "it's really not that bad" show that the author is tolerant, accepting the situation but acknowledging that it could be better. We could classify the tone of point 3 as bitter. The author is upset by a situation that forces him to live in a "miserable dump." Point 4 is optimistic, since the author hopes that the apartment will be improved soon. Finally, the tone of point 5 is humorous. The author claims to be plotting hilarious revenge against the landlord by restoring the apartment to the horrible state it was in when the tenants moved out.

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A note on irony

A commonly used tone is irony. When writing has an ironic tone, it says one thing but means the opposite. Irony can be found in everyday conversation as well as in writing. Below are some examples; Note that the quote always says the opposite of what is meant. • At the beginning of a semester, if you find that one of your teachers is particularly demanding, you can say, "This is going to be a piece of cake." about the actor involved, "Now there's a person with a very good chance of winning an Oscar." exciting." • If a friend comes home two hours late, you might say, "Thanks for being on time." • If you have the flu and someone asks how you're feeling, you might say, "I feel great today.” Irony also refers to situations where the opposite of what we might expect happens. We would call it ironic, for example, if a young woman who failed English in high school became a well-known writer, or if a young man who was kicked off his little league baseball team played in the major leagues. Here's Some more examples of this type of irony: • Security cameras installed to stop crime were stolen during a robbery. • A new computer purchased to help a small business collapses, causing the business to lose many of its customers. • A trainer at a gym smokes a cigarette during his lunch break. • Albert Einstein, one of the most brilliant scientists of the century, did poorly in school. • Beethoven's music teacher once said of him: “As a composer, he is hopeless.” • A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he "lacked imagination and he didn't have good ideas." As you can see, irony is a useful tone of humor and can be used to imply the exact opposite of what is being said or done.

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Check Your Understanding Now look at the cartoon below. Try to explain the irony.

GRAND AVENUE Reprinted by permission of United Feature Syndicate, Inc.

That is the irony of the girl's comment: "People are so self-centered."

Explanation:

The irony is that the girl is self-absorbed. She shows no interest in the people around her and is only concerned that they pay attention to her new hairstyle.

Exercise 4 A. Below are five statements that express different attitudes towards a boss. Five different tones are used: admirably ironic

comprehensively critical

objective

For each statement, write the tone that you think is present. Use each shade once. 1. Tony is an excellent manager, the best I've ever had. 2. I know that Tony's daughter was sick. Of course, she is now having a hard time concentrating on her work herself. 3. Tony is too ambitious for his own good. This ambition can destroy him and the company. 4. Appliance sales have increased 30 percent since Tony Roberts became manager. 5. Tony is wonderful, I agree. He has come this far without having the slightest idea of running a department.

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B. The following conversation between a mother and her son includes five of the tones shown in the box below. For each statement, write the tone that you think is present. Five shades left. menacingly sympathetic nostalgic

joyfully pessimistic incredulous

serious self pity

straight sarcastic

6. "Please take out the trash on the way to school this morning." 7. "Sure, Mom. I've been waiting for this assignment all morning." 8. "Listen, young man, if you don't start fulfilling your responsibilities in this house, your father and I will start begging you, pay the rent or get your own place." 9. "Okay, I'll take out the trash. But you know, It's not easy going to school full time and working twenty hours a week when I'm recovering from a bad case of the flu." 10. "I know, honey, this semester has been particularly difficult for you."

>^ Exercise 5 Each passage illustrates one of the sounds in the box below. In each box, put the letter of the tone that best describes it. Do not use any letter more than once. Five shades left. A. affectionate E. bitter I. alarmed

B. ambiguous F. vindictive I. grateful

C. Accept G. Forgive

D. embarrassed H. playful

Remember that the tone of a selection reflects the attitude of the author. To find the tone of a paragraph, ask yourself what attitude its words and phrases convey.

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1. “In my fantasies, I have ways of dealing with drivers that annoy me to death. 2Sometimes I have 50-caliber machine guns instead of headlights on the front of my car. 3In this way, I can send several hundred flaming lead shots to the slow-moving, gas-guzzling car in front of me. 4 I also have fantasies of confronting another driver I really hate: the trucker who pulls up inches from my rear bumper. 5In his case, I have flamethrowers protruding from the trunk of my car melting his front tires; That gets him out of my life fast. 6I also have a way of dealing with the guy behind me at night with my high beams on. 7It feels like a headlight is shining on my car. 8In this case, I'm driving a rental car, so I suddenly hit the brakes, causing him to hit me. 9That soon turns off its light. 10 Then I drive and let him find his way home in the dark. "My motto is: 'Don't get mad, get even.' one in four are classified as dangerously obese.4 One in Fourth!5 This is an urgent public health crisis that people need to wake up and recognize.6 Most obese children become obese adults, and adults Obese people are at risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and stroke.7 The costs of treating these health problems, from lost work hours to medical costs, will be immense if you don't address this problem right away, we'll be in into a big problem." Parents, schools, the government and the media must join forces to do something about this problem before it is too late. 3. Now I am happy with the death of my husband. 2 I was shopping when a sudden intuition made me call him. 3My husband was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the soft tissues of the body six months before his death and it has spread to his lungs ever since. 4 "Are you okay?" Asked. 5 “No,” he replied. 6 "I'm Having Trouble Breathing Here." 7 I ran home and took him to the emergency room. 8The cover fell off. 9The following week, my husband developed serious complications. 10In his last hours he told me that he wanted everything to be done by himself because he really wanted to live. "But as I watched his condition deteriorate, I made the most difficult decision of my life. 12 It had reached the point where life support was no longer the right thing to do. 13 I walked in and hugged him tight. 14 And I said, “I want you to let go and come into my heart because there he is safe.” 15 He stopped breathing. 16 And now he is in my heart. 17 I can feel his arms around me.

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4. “It has been suggested that students in our schools should wear uniforms. 2In a way, that sounds good. 3It is true that buying fashionable clothes and deciding what to wear in the morning requires a lot of money and time. 4But children need to learn to deal with social pressures about things like clothing, and school can be as good a place for this lesson as any. 5In addition, the way people dress is a way they express themselves, and perhaps students should also have this avenue of expression open to them. 6It's a pity, however, when they constantly worry about their appearance and waste valuable class time wishing they could have the brand's shirt across the room. 7Then uniforms can be helpful in directing the minds of students toward their education. 8Uniforms could also save students and their parents money, which is certainly a good thing. 9On the other hand, these uniforms aren't cheap and most students want multiple sets, so the savings may not be that great. 10 It's really hard to say if uniforms are a good idea or not. 5. “After twenty-two years of doing business in this community, Acme Supplies has closed its doors for the last time today. 297 people lost their jobs. 3 Many of them had worked for Acme since its opening. 4 You'd think Acme management would think they owed these loyal workers a debt, but you'd be wrong. 5Despite the factory's record efficiency and high output, Acme executives seized the opportunity to make more money by relocating the factory to Mexico, where wages are lower. 6In doing so, they turned their backs on the men and women who have made their company so successful over the years. 7Some of these employees were only months away from retirement. 8 Rather than wait for a well-deserved break, these employees are desperately trying to adjust to having their greedy employers pull the rug out from under them. 9 Although Acme always claimed to treat its workers "like family," the reality was that these workers were never more than tools to fatten the bank accounts of the company's unscrupulous managers.

Exercise 6 Read the following letter to the late Ann Landers along with your response. Then she answers the following questions about purpose and tone. Dear Ann Landers: When our daughter won a scholarship to a very good university in the East last year, we were delighted and proud of her. "María" does not drink or smoke and has high moral standards. She didn't worry us in the least that she had moved so far from home to go to school, and she didn't worry about peer pressure. 4 She she has always been a leader, not a follower.

1 2

PURPOSE AND TONE

However, Mary's letters are depressing. She says that many people who live in her dormitory (it's mixed, male and female) get drunk at least four nights a week and make so much noise that she can't study. She has also spent several nights caring for sick and hungover friends. Her roommate, she says, often stays out of her room until 3 or 4 a.m. m., she arrives completely drunk and vomits. Mary is upset that she has to clean up after her, but she has no choice. We didn't expect that when we sent our daughter off to college. We asked Mary if she would change schools next year (we would be willing to forgo the scholarship and pay her tuition). She said, "No, it's always been my dream to go to an Ivy League school, and these problems are everywhere." can you tell us

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Dear Parents, You ask, "What's wrong?" You just described it,6 according to the information I regularly receive from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information. College students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol annually. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have reported that excessive alcohol consumption on college campuses can endanger the health of not only drinkers, but non-drinkers as well. Non-drinkers experience lost sleep and study, vandalism, physical assault, unwanted sexual advances, and rape. dr. Henry Wechsler, director of university alcohol studies at the 7th Harvard School of Public Health, was the lead author of a report that examined the drinking habits of 17,592 students at 140 universities. The study found that alcohol on college campuses posed a serious threat to students' physical health and emotional well-being. One student said that she was fed up with people urinating in the elevators, vomiting in the hallways, vandalizing the bathroom, and burning holes in the walls. Wechsler's research found that nearly half of college students are drinkers, who cause the most problems by depriving others of study time and sleep and attacking their classmates. Security officials and university administrators report that alcohol is implicated in most rapes and nearly all violent incidents on campus. Wechsler urges students who don't drink to speak up and demand their rights. Time magazine quoted Wechsler as saying, "If your roommate gets drunk every night, insist on getting a new roommate or demand that you move out." He said: "I want students to complain. I want parents to complain. While Wechsler doesn't promote total abstinence (he says it's not 'realistic'), I disagree. If you don't drink at all, you never have to worry about how much is too much.

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The first paragraph of the parent's letter has an A. tragic tone. same tone B. pndelul C pleading sound. 2. In its third paragraph, the letter to the parents takes on an A. desperate tone. B. Vengeful tone. C doubtful sound. 3. The letter to the parents ends with a (n) A. tone of instruction. B. Sound confused. C. sentimental tone. 4. The purpose of many letters to parents is to inform A. Ann Landers about her daughter's situation. B. persuades Ann Landers to convince her daughter to drop out of school. C. amuse Ann Landers with the ridiculous behavior of today's college students. 5. Based on the facts she selected and her last paragraph, we can conclude that Lander's main purpose is to A. simply educate people about different views on alcohol. B. to convince readers that it is better to drink little or no alcohol. C. To entertain readers with colorful views on alcohol.

CHAPTER REVIEW In this chapter you learned that critical reading involves: • Being aware of the author's intent—the reason he or she is writing. Three common purposes are to inform, persuade, and entertain. • Pay attention to tone: the expression of the author's attitude and feeling on a topic. An author's tone can be objective, as is the case in most textbooks, or it can be cheerful, compassionate, angry, caring, respectful, or one of the many other tones shown on pages 345-346. . An important tone to recognize is irony: saying one thing but meaning the opposite. The final chapter of Part One, Chapter 10, will explain another part of critical reading: recognizing an author's point of view and evaluating support for that point of view.

PURPOSE AND TONE

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| 1| On the Web: If you are using this book in class, you can visit our website for more practice identifying an author's purpose and tone. Go to www.townsendpress.com and click on "Online Exercises". ."

^ Review Test 1 To review what you learned in this chapter, fill in the blanks or write in the space provided the letter of the correct answer for each question. I. The author's reason for writing something is called choice. 2-4 What is the purpose of each of the following types of writing? Name each according to its usual primary purpose: to inform, persuade, or entertain. A Report: A Mystery: An Editorial: 5. The tone of a selection reveals the author's attitude toward his subject. 6. An ironic comment means what was said.

Von

7. Imagine a bad morning when everything goes wrong: there is no hot water for the shower, the milk for the cereal is sour, there is a puddle of oil under the car, etc. Which of the following statements would be an ironic comment on the situation? A. "What a bad start to the day." B. "What a great day this is going to be." C. "Oh my God. What did I do to deserve this?" 8. A tone (A. indulgent; B. critical; C. factual) does not reveal any personal feelings 9. An arrogant tone suggests that the speaker or writer A. is angry B. looks on the unfavorable side of things C. He thinks a lot about himself.

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10. A practical tone indicates that the speaker or writer is saying something

A dishonest. B. without personal bias. C. have nostalgia for something from the past.

^- New Test 2: Purpose Indicate in the space provided whether the main purpose of each passage is to inform (I), persuade (P), or entertain (E). 1. “Let's just pretend for a moment. 2Imagine that in the hospital room where your mother is dying there is a button. 3By pressing this button, you have the power to quickly and painlessly end the life of the person you love. 4 You know that your mother will remain in this sick room the rest of her days. 5Would you push the button for her? 6 You watch her being put on a life support machine, and you also watch and listen as her pain increases and she pleads for help. 7 You watch her get worse day by day, until she reaches a point where she can no longer speak or hear, and lives only thanks to this machine. 8Now, would you press this button? 9If you can imagine the horror of what I have described, then perhaps you will agree that our country should reconsider its laws against mercy killing. 2. “Traditionally, English grammar required the use of the masculine pronoun to represent the entire class of people regardless of gender. 2 In the past, the following sentence would have been considered correct in English: “Everyone in class must turn in their work tomorrow.” 3 Today, many language experts would consider this sentence to be sexist because it excludes women. 4They say that one way to solve the problem is to rewrite a sentence with the plural: "All the students in the class have to turn in their work tomorrow." Alternatively, they advise using both masculine and feminine singular pronouns: "Everyone in class has to turn in their work tomorrow."

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3. "An old lady in a Cadillac got ready to back out of a parking space. 2Suddenly a small red sports car appeared and pulled into the gap. 3"You can do that when you're young and fast," the young man told her in the car at the old woman. 4As she was driving away laughing, she heard a terrible crack.5 "What's that noise?" she asked.6 When she turned around, she saw the old woman backing into her little car and crushing it.7 "You can't do that, old lady!" she yelled. 8 "What do you mean I can't?" she yelled back as metal creaked against metal. 9 "You can do that when you're old and rich." 4. “The students who develop mononucleosis (“mono”) may be forced to stay in bed for a semester when they can least afford it.2Other common illnesses can be treated with minimal interruption, but the general weakness and fatigue seen in many people with mononucleosis sometimes require one or two months of rest and recovery. 3 Mono is a viral infection in which the body makes too much of one type of white blood cell. 4After uncertain, perhaps prolonged incubation, the acute symptoms of mononucleosis may appear, including weakness, headache, low-grade fever, swollen lymph glands (especially in the neck), and sore throat. 5 Mental fatigue and depression are sometimes reported as side effects of mono. 6After the acute symptoms have resolved, weakness and fatigue usually persist, sometimes for a few months. 5. "Americans love parks and wildlife sanctuaries, but the crowds they find there are a national embarrassment. 2 Parking lots are overcrowded, and roads through parks and refuges are often so clogged they might as well be the parking lots.3Playing fields and barbecue areas fill up early in the day, and even on remote trails, voices can be heard from all directions.4Americans desperately need more open-space land where walks can take place. nature, picnicking and camping in uncrowded tranquility Communities across the country should establish parks and trails that provide free access to open space for all.

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Repeat Test 3: Tone Each of the following five passages illustrates one of the tones in the chart below. In the space provided, enter the letter of the tone that best fits each passage. Do not use any letter more than once. Three shades left. Remember that the tone of a selection reflects the attitude of the author. To find the tone of a paragraph, ask yourself what attitude its words and phrases convey.

A. tolerate E. bother

B. pesimista F. sentimental

C. objective G. indulgent

D. ironically H. embarrassed

"Most animals have a 'sweet tooth,' and humans are no exception. That's why food manufacturers often add sugar and other sweeteners to their products. 3 In fact, many commercial breakfast cereals have 40% of sugar.4 Because added sugar provides calories but not essential nutrients, sugar is generally referred to as “empty calories” for nutrition.5 Excess calories from added sugars are converted to fat, which in some cases can contribute to obesity problems.•^Populations that consume large amounts of sugar have high rates of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and tooth decay.7 Sugar consumption in the United States averages about 133 pounds per person per year.2

2. “Relentless greed and appalling dishonesty characterized the treatment of Native Americans in the 1860s and 1870s, when Native American massacres were commonplace. 2The Sand Creek massacre in Colorado in 1864 was sadly typical. 3The territorial governor had persuaded the Indians to gather there and promised them protection. 4 Despite this promise, Colonel J. M. Chivington's militia attacked the defenseless Indian camp. 5 They despised this sacred symbol, the American flag and the white flag of the armistice, which the Indians raised at Sand Creek. 6 Four hundred and fifty peaceful Native Americans—men, women, and children—were massacred in what has been called "the most heinous and unjust crime in the annals of America." 7 This was just one of the cruel massacres of Native Americans recorded in history. “At my last checkup, the doctor found a small lump in my throat. I'm going to the hospital tomorrow so they can see what it is. 3 The doctor said it was probably a harmless cyst, but of course he would say so. 4 What will you say: "Sorry, it looks like cancer to me"? 5 he also said that if it's cancer, it's probably the type that is 2

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easy to treat. 6 Right, I thought. 7 He's trying to be nice, I know, but I also know how these things work. 8First he will say that he is nothing; then he says it's cancer, but it's not a big deal; and finally he will tell me the truth. 9 I am finished. 4. “Gregory Jenkins would be an ideal candidate for governor. 2A governor needs experience with a large organization and there are fewer organizations larger than the mob in our state. 3Jenkins' national ties to this distinguished group of businessmen ensure he has an ample supply of cash to support a long and difficult campaign. 4He is also an inspirational speaker and civil rights activist. 5 In a recent comment to the press, he commented: "No defender of our educational system is stronger than me." 6 And no one is more affectionate with his friends and colleagues than Jenkins. 7In fact, it is known that he loves the wife of his best friend for several years. 5. "I can't look my best friend in the eye. 2He doesn't know what happened last weekend, and I hope he never does. 3We were all at a party at a friend's house. 4It was pretty loud and wild and I had a good time. 5 I found myself in the corner of a crowded room with the girl I'd been with all year. 6 We joked around and then started dancing. 7 I don't even know how it started, but somehow we ended up alone in a bathroom. 8 I started to kiss her and she kissed me back. 9 We stayed there until someone started banging on the door. 10 That night didn't seem like much, but the next day I couldn't believe I had made it. "This is a girl that he really cares and means nothing to me. ,2 Now everything is a mess. 13 I feel so uncomfortable with her that I don't know what to do. 14 And I know that she considers me one of her best friends. 15 I feel like an idiot for betraying him.

Requiz 4 Here is your chance to apply your understanding of purpose and tone to a full-length selection. In "The Scholarship Jacket," Marta Salinas writes about a disappointing time in her childhood in South Texas. By focusing on an award that school authorities decided she shouldn't receive, Salinas shows us the pain of discrimination and the need for inner strength. To help you further strengthen her skills, the reading is followed by questions not only about what she has learned in this chapter, but also what she has learned in previous chapters.

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words to watch

IIIIII 111 IIIIII 111 II i l ! II III Each word is followed by the number of the paragraph in which it appears and its meaning there. These words are marked in the article with a small circle (°). Agile (2): Able to move quickly E.P. (3) - listen to PE abbreviation (4) - filtered listening (7) - restless leaky (8) - agitated awakening (12) - conjure up mesquite (15) - a group of sweet-smelling thorny trees (15) : emaciated mound of dirt (25): thin and bony ugly (29): very uncomfortable adrenaline (31): a hormone that responds to emotions, increases blood pressure and stimulates the heart

DIE STIPENDIENJACKE Marta Salinas 1

The small Texas school I attended had a tradition each year at eighth grade graduation: a beautiful gold and green jacket, the school colors, was presented to the top of the class, the student with the highest grades. for eight years. The scholarship jacket had a large gold S on the left front and the winner's name in gold letters on the pocket. My older sister Rosie had won the jacket a few years ago and I was pretty sure I would win it too. I was fourteen years old and in eighth grade. An outstanding student since first grade, he had hoped to have this jacket for the past year. My father was a laborer who couldn't earn enough money to support eight children, so when he was six years old they gave me to my grandparents to raise. We couldn't participate in sports at school.

because there were registration fees, uniform costs and trips out of town; so even though we were pretty agile and sporty, there would never be a sporty school jacket for us. This, the scholarship jacket, was our only chance. In May, just before graduation, the spring fever came, and no one paid attention to the lessons; Instead, we looked out the windows at each other and looked at each other because we wanted to speed up the last few weeks of school. I was desperate every time I looked in the mirror. Pencil thin, no curves anywhere, my name was "Beanpole" and "String Bean" and I knew I looked like it. A flat chest, no hips and a brain, that's what he had. That's not much for a fourteen-year-old boy, I thought as he absentmindedly walked from my history class to the gym. Another hour of sweating basketball and showing my stick

legs went up. Then I remembered that my PE shorts were still in a pocket under my desk where I had left them. I had to run all the way back and look for her. Coach Thompson was a real bear when someone wasn't dressed for RE. She had said that I was a good striker and she once even tried to persuade Grandma to let me join the team. The grandmother said that she did not, of course. She had almost made it back to my classroom door when I heard angry voices and arguments. I stopped. I didn't want to listen0; I just hesitated, not knowing what to do. I needed these shorts and I was going to be late, but I didn't want to interrupt an argument between my teachers. I recognized the voices: Mr. Schmidt, my history teacher, and Mr. Boone, my math teacher. They seemed to be discussing me. I could not believe it. I still remember the shock of being smashed against the wall as if trying to confuse myself with the graffiti written there. "I refuse to! I don't care who her father is, her grades are nowhere near Martha's. I won't lie or falsify records. Martha has an A+ average and you know it." That was Mr. Smith, and he sounded very angry. Mr. Boone's voice was calm and calm. "Listen, Joann's dad is not only on the board, he owns the only store in town, we could tell it was a strong bond and…" The pounding in my ears drowned out the rest of the words, just one A word here and there filtered through 0. "Martha is Mexican... leave it... I won't..." Herr Schmidt ran out and, luckily for me, walked in the opposite direction of the auditorium so I wouldn't be caught. saw. I waited, trembling, for a few minutes, and then I went inside. , he grabbed my bag and ran out of the room. Mr. Boone looked up when I walked in, but he didn't say anything. I don't remember to this day if

PURPOSE AND TONE

I have problems in RE. for being late or how I spent the rest of the afternoon. I went home very sad and cried into my pillow that night so Grandma wouldn't hear me. It seemed a cruel coincidence that he had overheard this conversation. When the director called me into his office the next day, he knew what was going to happen. He seemed uncomfortable and unhappy. I decided I wasn't going to make it any easier for him, so I looked him square in the eye. He looked away and fiddled with the papers on his desk. “Martha,” he said, “there was a change in the scholarship jacket policy this year. As you know, it was always free.” He cleared his throat and continued. “This year, the board decided to charge fifteen dollars, which still doesn't cover the full cost of the jacket.” I looked at him in shock, a small sound of dismay escaping my throat. I did not expect that. He still avoided looking me in the eye. "So if you can't afford the fifteen bucks for the jacket, they'll give it to the next person in line." I stood up with all the dignity I could muster and said, "I'll talk to my grandfather about this, sir, and let him know tomorrow." I cried on the way home from the bus stop. The dirt road was a quarter mile from the highway, and when I got home my eyes were red and swollen. "Where is Grandpa?" I asked Grandma, looking down so she wouldn't ask why she was crying. She was sewing a quilt and didn't look up. "I think he exercises in the bean field."

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I went outside and looked at the fields. There she was. I could see it

walking between the rows, the body bent over the seedlings, the mattock in hand. I walked towards him slowly and thought of the best way to ask him for the money. There was a cool breeze and a sweet mesquite smell in the air, but I didn't appreciate it. I kicked a clod of earth°. I wanted this jacket so bad. It was more than just being valedictorian and giving a little jacket acceptance speech on prom night. He represented eight years of hard work and anticipation. He knew that he had to be honest with Grandpa; It was my only chance. He saw me and looked up. 16 He was waiting for me to speak. I cleared my throat nervously and clasped my hands behind my back so he wouldn't see them shake. "Grandpa, I have a big favor to ask you," I told him in Spanish, the only language I spoke. He still waited in silence. I tried again. “Grandpa, this year the principal said that the scholarship jacket is not for nothing. It's fifteen dollars and I have to bring the money tomorrow or they'll give it to someone else. The last words came out in an anxious rush. Grandpa sat up wearily and rested his chin on the hoe handle. He looked across the field full of tiny green bean plants. I waited, desperately hoping he would say that he could have the money. 17 he turned to me and asked quietly: "What does a scholarship jacket mean?" 18 I responded quickly; maybe there was an opportunity. "It means you've earned it by getting straight A's for eight years, and that's why they're giving it to you." Too late, I realized the meaning of my words. Grandpa knew that I understood that it was not about money.

OF SKILLS

It wasn't. He pulled out the weeds that grew between the tender little bean plants. It was a job that he consumed a lot of time; sometimes the little shoots were next to each other. Finally he spoke again. “If you pay for it then, Marta, it's not a scholarship jacket, is it? Tell your manager I'm not going to pay the fifteen dollars." I went back to the house and locked myself in the bathroom for a long time. He was mad at Grandpa even though he knew he was right, and he was mad at the board of directors, whoever they were. Why did they have to change the rules right when it was my turn to win the jacket? She was a very sad and withdrawn girl who was dragged into the principal's office the next day. This time she met my eyes. "What did your grandfather say?" I sat very upright in my chair. "He told me to tell you that he won't pay the fifteen dollars." The director muttered something I couldn't understand and went to the window. He was standing there looking at something. He seemed taller than usual when he got up; he was a tall, thin, gray-haired man, and I watched the back of his neck as he waited for me to speak. "Why?" he finally asked. "Your grandfather has the money. Doesn't he own a little bean farm?" I looked up at him, willing my eyes to stay dry. "He said if I had to pay for it it wouldn't be a scholarship jacket," I said, getting up to leave. "I guess you just have to give it to Joann. I didn't mean that; she just ran away. I was almost to the door when she stopped me. "Martha, wait.

22 23 24 25

PURPOSE AND TONE

I turned and looked at him waiting. What did he want now? I could feel my heart beating. Something bitter and disgusting entered my mouth; I was afraid of getting sick. He didn't need condolences. She sighed loudly and went back to her large desk. He looked at me, biting his lip as if he was thinking. "Okay, dammit. In your case we'll make an exception. I could hardly believe it. I spoke with a shaky rush. "Oh, thank you, sir!" I suddenly felt great. I didn't know anything about Adrenaline at the time, but I knew that something was pumping through me and making me feel as big as the sky. I wanted to scream, jump, run the mile, do something. I ran outside so I could cry in the hallway where no one could see me. At the end of the day, Mr. Schmidt winked at me and said, “I heard you'll get a scholarship jacket this year.” His face looked as happy and innocent as a baby's, but I knew better. Without answering, I gave him a quick swipe.

they hugged and ran to the bus. I cried again on the way home, but this time because I was so happy. I couldn't wait to tell Grandpa and ran straight into the field. I joined him in the line where he was working and without saying anything I crouched down and began to pull out the brush with my hands. Grandpa worked next to me for a few minutes, but he didn't ask what happened. After placing a small pile of weeds between the rows, I stood up and looked at him. "The director said he'll make an exception for me, grandpa, and I'll buy the jacket anyway. That was after I told him what you said. Grandpa didn't say anything; he just patted me on the shoulder and smiled. He took out the handkerchief crumpled red one he always carried in his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead, "You'd better go see if your grandmother needs help with dinner." I gave him a wide smile. He didn't fool me. I jumped up and ran I return to the house whistling a silly tune.

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Reading Comprehension Questions Vocabulary in Context 1. In A. B. C. D.

In the following sentences, the word dismay (dis-ma') means joy. Comfort. surprise and relief. sudden discouragement "I looked at him in shock and a small sound of dismay escaped my throat. I wasn't expecting that." (paragraph 10)

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Central point and main idea 2. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of this selection? A. When she was about to pick up her gym clothes, Martha overheard a conversation between two teachers, which shocked and saddened her. B. It was a tradition in the Maltese school to give a beautiful gold and green jacket to the best year of the eighth grade. C. Although fourteen-year-old Marta won a school jacket with a scholarship, she nearly lost that award due to discrimination. D. Marta's sister had won the scholarship jacket, and Marta was dying to win it too. 3. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of paragraph 7? A. Marta was unable to hear every word of the conversation between Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Boone. B. Martha was surprised and saddened to hear two teachers discussing her. C. Herr Schmidt did not see Marta when she left the room. D. Marta did not want her grandmother to know that she was crying. Supporting Details 4. Which of the following statements is false? A. Marta was raised by her grandparents because her parents had died. B. Mr. Smith was upset about trying to give the scholarship jacket to someone less deserving than Martha. C. Marta's grandfather refused to give her the money for the scholarship jacket. D. Marta was called by another name at school. Transitions 5. The relationship between the two parts of the following sentence is one of A. time. B. Contrast. C. Comparison. D. Cause and effect. “I decided I wasn't going to make it any easier for him, so I looked him straight in the eye” (paragraph 8).

PURPOSE AND TONE

meeting

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of organization 6. The general organizational pattern of selection is A. Cause and effect. B. Order of time. C. Comparison. D. Contrast.

Facts and opinions 7. The word that adds an element of opinion to the following set of facts is A. Tradition. B beautiful C. Farewell speaker. D. taller. “The small Texas school I attended held a tradition each year at eighth grade graduation: a beautiful gold and green jacket, the school colors, was presented to the valedictorian of the class, the student who earned the highest grades. high for eight years. (paragraph 1) Conclusions 8. By saying: “If you are paying for it Marta, she is not a scholarship jacket, is she?” you have to buy it with money C. Marta didn't deserve the scholarship jacket D. she didn't understand the purpose of the scholarship jacket Purpose and tone 9. The author's purpose in this selection is to A. inform readers and with an anecdote interesting and meaningful B. Convince schools not to charge students for academic rewards C. Entertain with a fun, light hearted story about a young girl at the school. 10. The tone in paragraph 31 can be described as A. satisfied. Angry B. c happy D. cocky.

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Discussion Questions 1. In her first meeting with the principal, Martha could have challenged him by sharing what she heard the two teachers say. Why do you think she kept quiet? What do you think the principal would have said or done if she had told her that she knew the real reason she didn't get her jacket? 2. Why do you think the director gave in on his second meeting with Marta? What do you think the decision of Malta's grandfather shows? What do you think could happen if the director confronts the board again? If you were the director, what would you have told the board? 3. Marta insinuates that she was discriminated against because of her ethnic origin (she was Mexican) and because of the economic situation of her family (she was poor). Have you ever experienced discrimination or do you know a friend who has? To explain. 4. Marta continues to emphasize how important the scholarship jacket was to her and how hard she worked to get it. Is there something you worked hard for when you were younger? How long have you been working to achieve this goal? How did you feel when you finally made it or didn't make it? What lessons, if any, have you learned from the experience? Note: See pages 589-590 for writing assignments for this selection.

See your performance activity

PURPOSE AND T O N O correct number

Points

Verification Test 1 (10 items)

repeat test 2

(5 item)

try again 3

(5 item)

Mock exam 4 ( 1 0 items)

TOTAL SCORE

score

Record your total score on the Reading Performance Chart: Verification Tests on the inside back cover.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Dice x 10 =

PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 1 A. In the space provided, indicate whether the primary purpose of each question is to inform (I), persuade (P), or entertain (E). S

1. More than 90 percent of children in the United States eat at McDonald's every month. 2. Fast food chains need to be encouraged to provide healthier meals for our children.

From

3. Fred's idea of healthy eating is to eat a double cheeseburger without salting it. 4. The federal government needs to hire more inspectors to ensure the safety of the meals served to our school-age children. 5. Rachel says that she eats a balanced diet, choosing foods from the four main food groups: chips, soft drinks, candy, and cakes.

B. Each of the following passages illustrates one of the five tones in the chart below. In the space provided, write the letter of the tone that applies to each passage. A. affectionate D. humorous

B. critical, E. self-critical

C. pessimistic

• Recently, my sister asked me to watch her two children at night. I thought I'd bring them dinner, let them watch some TV, and then put them to bed early. 3 He planned to spend the rest of the afternoon watching television and easily earn twenty dollars. 4Well, just before we sat down to eat pizza, Rickie let the parakeet out of his cage. The dog started chasing the bird while it was flying around the house, so I decided to catch it before the dog. 6 The kids and I had the bird cornered by the chimney when Rickie jumped on it and knocked over the hamster's cage. 7The hamsters flew away from under the sofa as the bird flew away. 8 Fortunately, the dog was gone. 9I took care of the hamsters while the children caught the parakeet and put it back in its cage. 10 When we got back to the kitchen to eat cold pizza, I found out why the dog had lost interest in hunting birds. "What was left of the pizza was on the floor and the tomato sauce was dripping down the dog's chin like blood. 12 Later, when my sister came back, I took the twenty dollars and told her to find someone else next time. two

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7. “What happened to the habit of saving for what you want? 2 No one seems to have that kind of patience anymore. 3Many Americans buy what they want when they want it and pay Wdfrty aMul* ^ and later. 4The average American spends significantly more than he earns, much to the delight of credit card companies. - "Apparently, people need to get through a financial crisis before they realize that neglecting to balance their budget and saving for bad times is utter nonsense.

C-£

*%-*** T~"

“The machines are an absolute mystery to me and this has led to some embarrassing service calls to my house. 2 For example, there was one time I called a handyman because our refrigerator was too hot. 3 Imagine my humiliation when he told me that the cause of the problem was a dirty filter that I didn't know existed and that's why I haven't changed it in the two years that we've had a clean fridge. 4However, the best example of my brilliance with machines must have been the time I called someone to fix my washing machine. 5The handyman's solution was to simply reinsert the plug into the outlet from which the constant vibration of the washer had knocked it out. 9. “Research with rats shows that when animals are locked up, they lead disorderly and violent lives. 2People are not different. 3Overcrowded slums are models of iniquity; The busy highways of Los Angeles encourage aggression from motorists and even shootings. 4As our urban areas continue to increase in population, these types of problems will certainly increase as well. 5This means more domestic violence and more fighting over available resources. 6The American Dream will become just that: just a dream. 10. "Those who are addicted to drugs and alcohol probably feel terrible, even if they don't show it, and harsh judgments only worsen their self-image. 2What these people need is programs to help them break free of their addictions. 3 It is also important that we all open our hearts and minds to these troubled people. 4 Their addiction does not make them any less "children of God," nor does it mean that they deserve to be stripped of their dignity, which is the birthright of all beings. 5We must strive to create an atmosphere of hope and help for those who need it so desperately.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Data X 10 =

PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 2 A. In the space provided, indicate whether the primary purpose of each item is to inform (I), persuade (P), or entertain (E). T4--

1 V '\

1. The world's first ads were not printed or delivered electronically; They were noisy, called by street vendors promoting their wares. 2. Billboard advertising is a form of visual pollution and should be prohibited. 3. Instead of urging my dad to lose weight, my mom bought him a large T-shirt that said "This room is for rent." 4. For television, those who spend the most on advertising are the manufacturers of cars and trucks; Car dealers spend the most on newspaper ads. 5. Advertisers should no longer be allowed to mislead consumers through lies or exaggeration. 6. On average, each person in the United States and Canada uses more than 300 gigajoules (GJ) (equivalent to about 60 barrels) of oil per year. By contrast, in some of the world's poorest countries, such as Ethiopia, Nepal and Bhutan, each person typically consumes less than 1 GJ per year.

—t— 7. The foundation of public education has always been literacy and numeracy: the “three R's”. However, schools insist that students who do not master these basics continue to take all other subjects. What good is it for young people to sit in history or science classes if they are not good at reading or arithmetic? Schools should require students who are far behind in basics to spend all of their time on the 3Rs until they are at or near grade level.

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B. Each of the following passages illustrates one of the sounds identified in the box below. In each space provided, write the letter of the tone that applies to the passage. (Three tone options remain.) A. objective D. optimistic

B. fun, E. critical

C. depressed F. arrogant

8. "When I was younger, I thought that at that age I would be pretty well equipped for life. 2 I figured I had a nice house, some money in the bank, and a decent job. 3 But things haven't turned out that way at all. 4 I live in a one-bedroom apartment with shabby furniture and a view of a parking lot 5 My office work is boring and unrewarding, and I barely take home enough to cover rent and expenses, let alone put anything away. sMy apartment is so unattractive that I don't want to invite anyone over, so I'm alone most of the time 7All the dreams I had in my youth are practically gone now 8Sometimes I think about going back to school and preparing for another career , but at my age it doesn't seem to make much sense. 9I guess that's what life has in store for me. 9. “Parents who don't read to their children often give the excuse of lack of time. 2But with few exceptions, your dyslexia is a matter of priority ities. 3Most parents find time to spend a full day at work, taking several coffee breaks, eating lunch and dinner, reading the newspaper, watching the late-night news or ball games, doing the dishes, talking on the phone during thirty minutes (mostly about nothing), run to the store for a pack of cigarettes or a lottery ticket, drive to the mall and never miss that favorite prime time show again. 4Somehow they find time for these things, important or not, but they don't find time to read to a child, which is far more important than anything else on a leisure priority list. 10. "Scientists say that grilling meat creates cancer-causing substances that attack meat in two ways. 2When fat drips onto the heat source, the substances form first, and then smoke carries them into the food. 3They also arise when flames touch the meat.4However, there are a few ways experts say will minimize the risk of grilling meat: (1) Use lean meat and fat-free sauces.5(2) Partially cook meat before grilling 6(3) Cover grill with aluminum foil Poke holes in foil to allow grease to drain 7(4) Prevent outbreaks of fires that produce noxious smoke 8(5) Remove black material from the surface of the meat before eating it 9(6) Do not cook every day.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

×10 =

PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 3 A. Seven quotes in the following story are preceded by a space. Identify the tone of each italicized quote by writing the letter of one of those tones. (Three tone options remain.) A. sympathetic E. superior I. curious

B. right F. excited j. afraid

C. pleading G, depressed

D. angry H. scheming

The television reporter knocked on the door of the small semi-detached house. A woman opened the door. 1. "My name is Tod Hunter," said the reporter. "I'm with Action News and I'd like to speak to the woman who lost her daughter in the school fire last night." "Oh, I'm sorry, but he doesn't really feel like visiting." "I see," said the reporter. "Please tell him we just need a moment of his time." While the woman was gone, the reporter turned to his team. 2. "You could shoot from that angle," he whispered, "but let's try to get in. Neighborhood kids crowded around the TV crew. 3. "Those are TV cameras!" some yelled laughing. "Wow, cameras TV shows!" 4. Passersby stopped to look at the crew members standing in front of the house and asked, "What do you think happened there?" Then the mother of the fire victim appeared at the door, looking tense and exhausted.“What do you want?”“I'm so sorry for your great loss, ma'am.” Hunter continued, “I'm here for Action News. Do you know what caused the terrible fire?” "No interviews, please." "Our viewers want to know about this terrible fire." 5. "I don't care about your viewers!" She called. "It's none of their business. It's none of your business either, young man." 6. "Run! She's crazy!" the children yelled as they fled. 7. "All I want is two minutes," said the reporter. "Please, just two minutes of your time." But the door already it was closed in his face. "Let's get out of here," the frustrated reporter told his team. 1m starving. (continued on next page) 371

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B. Indicate in the space provided whether the primary purpose of each passage is to inform (I), persuade (P), or entertain (E). 8. “Why do people swear and use foul language? 2A researcher suggests that swearing is a way to assert independence by breaking adult taboos. 3In a society that values adulthood and independence, the increasing use of profane and profane language at younger ages is not surprising. 4Obscene and vulgar expressions, rarely used, convey strong emotions for which there may be no other appropriate words. 5 They are meant to shock and express someone's deep disgust or contempt. 9. Ads directed at children aren't just annoying – they're destructive and need to be controlled. Especially during the holiday season, children are bombarded with media messages designed to make them want the latest toys, games, computers, sneakers, dolls, music, and clothes on the market. 3As manufacturers work to take money out of the pockets of children and their families, they contribute to a growing sense of discontent and greed. 4 This serves the purpose of manufacturers: after all, if children were ever satisfied, they would not ask their parents to buy more goods. But the result is to produce a nation of selfish men and women whose lives are ruled by the need to have more, more, more. 6It is terrifying to see a generation raised from infancy to be greedy consumers. 7What chance do they have of ever becoming satisfied adults whose values transcend a price tag? 10. "When she was watching a cartoon with my daughter, she said, 'Dad, why is Bugs Bunny wearing gloves?' 2The question has stuck with me ever since. 3Why do Mickey Mouse, Bugs and Woody Woodpecker wear gloves? 4And who decides which characters have pants? 5Mickey always wears them, but Donald Duck only wears this sailor shirt. 6Porky he has a jacket and bow tie, but no shirt or pants, and Daffy only has his feathers.7 And when I think about it, how did Goofy, a dog, make the evolutionary leap to stand on his hind legs, put on pants, a shirt, and a vest, and talk?8But Pluto is content to stay in the kennel and get his ass kicked by Chip 'n Dale chipmunks.

name section

Given

RESULT: (correct number)

×10 =

PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 4 A. Seven quotes in the following story are preceded by a space. Identify the tone of each italicized quote by writing the letter of one of those tones. (Three sound options remain.)

A. upset E. happy I. happy

B. Embarrassed F. Understanding J. Vengeful

C. outraged G. directly

D. funny H. sad

The setting is a busy restaurant on a Saturday night. "Goodnight!" a young waitress chirped at a table of guests. "It's good to see you here tonight! My name is Annette and I'll be her waitress tonight." Meanwhile, across the room, a man was staring at her food as he poked at it with his fork. Yuk! They call that 'fresh fish from the ocean,'" he said, "but it doesn't really smell that fresh. It makes me gag!” But at the next table, a young man told his friend, “These incredible spaghetti hit the spot. I was starving.” Nearby, in a dimly lit corner of the restaurant, a young man and woman sat close together and smiled at the diamond ring on the woman's finger. “Oh, honey,” the woman sighed. "This is the happiest night of my life. This restaurant will always be my favorite because you asked me to marry you here." At another table, a different kind of conversation ensued: "I can't believe you'd do that!" a woman hissed at her husband. "What kind of man takes his wife to a public place to tell her that he is having an affair with her best friend? What should I do now, order an appetizer?" Back in the kitchen, the restaurant manager informed the staff. “Annette, you set tables one through four. Ben, you are responsible for five to eight. A group of sixteen people enters at eight; Lisa and Suzette will take care of her.” "Well, they passed us by again, didn't they?" Ben commented to Annette after the manager left. “Lisa and Suzette always get the big groups and the big tips. I wonder why I'm trying to do a good job here." “Oh, I don't care,” Annette said. “Lisa and Suzette work many more hours than you or me. I can understand why the manager thinks they deserve the best jobs." Then Annette came out of the kitchen. "Well, it's not right for me," Ben muttered to himself. "If I quit this lousy job, they'll pay for the way they treated me. I'll get back at them somehow." (continued on next page) 373

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B. (8.) Indicate in the space provided if the main purpose of each passage is to inform (I), to persuade (P), or to entertain (E). “Eye contact, also called gaze, is how and how often we look at the people with whom we communicate. 2By maintaining eye contact, we can tell when or if people are paying attention to us, when people are involved in what we are saying, and if what we are saying evokes feelings. 3The extent of eye contact varies from person to person and from situation to situation. 4Studies show that speakers maintain eye contact about 40 percent of the time and listeners nearly 70 percent of the time. 5We generally maintain better eye contact when we're discussing topics we're comfortable with, when we're genuinely interested in someone's comments or reactions, or when we're trying to influence the other person. 6On the other hand, we tend to avoid eye contact when talking about topics we feel uncomfortable with, when we are not interested in the topic or person, or when we are embarrassed, embarrassed, or trying to hide something. C. Read the next paragraph. Then think carefully about the following questions and write the letters of the best answers. “There are certain types of people who are not to be trusted. 2One type are people who tell you that God has told them to ask you to send them money. 3You know the guys I mean. 4 They appear on TV and say, “God told me he wants you to send me some money, say $100, or even just $10 if that's all you can afford, but I must honestly point out that God is less likely to give you a terrible disease if your gift is in the range of $100". 5The theory here seems to be that God only speaks to children on television. 6I always thought that if God was so in need of necessary money, he would contact us directly 9. The purpose of this paragraph is A. to persuade readers not to send money to television evangelists B. to entertain readers through hyperbole C. both of the above 10. The tone of this paragraph can be described as A. direct and serious B. humorous and teasing C devoted and respectful D. sentimental and warm

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

Given X = 12.5

PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 5 Read the following paragraphs. Then think carefully about the following questions and write the letters of the best answers in the space provided. A

“A successful doctor is supposed to operate on a patient at 8 a.m., but it snowed overnight and it's hard to drive. 2 Do you think the doctor stays home in bed? 3Not if he or she is professional. 4 This professional attitude is also the key to being a successful student. 5 And it's within your reach, no matter how well or poorly you've done in school. 6 You can't undo the past, but you can adopt a professional attitude from now on. 7A11 what you should do is try to take school seriously and the rest will follow. 8By attending class, turning in assignments on time, and preparing for tests, you will gradually develop your skills. 1. The primary purpose of this paragraph is to A. Present facts about the student's behavior. B. Promote awareness in students. C. Entertain students with a dramatic story about professionalism. 2. In A.B.c. D.

In general, the tone of this paragraph can be described as critical. pessimistic, encouraging praise.

According to memory experts, there are ways you can improve your chances of remembering the names of people you meet. 2 One way is to make associations between a person's name and appearance. 3 For example, if you meet a man named Baker, you might imagine him wearing a baker's hat. 4If the name is difficult, ask for the spelling and visualize the letters in your mind. 5 It is also useful to repeat the person's name while speaking, taking into account his mental imagery. 6 And when you finish your conversation, repeat the person's name as you say goodbye. 3. The main purpose of this paragraph is to inform A. B. persuade. C. talk. 4. The general tone of this paragraph can be described as A. critical and angry. B. obviously funny. C. doubtful. D. simple and instructive. (continued on next page) 375

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“I was sitting on the beach one summer day and I saw two children, a boy and a girl, playing in the sand. 2 They were busy building an elaborate sandcastle along the water, complete with gates, towers, moats, and interior passageways. 3When they were almost finished with their project, a great wave came and tossed it over, turning it into a heap of wet sand. 4I waited for the children to burst into tears, devastated by what had happened to all their hard work. 5 But they surprised me. 6 Instead, laughing and holding hands, they ran to the shore and sat down to build another castle. 7 I realized that I had been taught an important lesson. 8A11 The things in our lives, all the intricate structures we spend so much time and energy creating, are built on sand. 9 Only our relationships with other people endure. 10 Sooner or later a tide will come and topple what we have worked so hard for. nWhen this happens, only the person holding someone's hand can laugh. 5. The main purpose of this paragraph is to A. educate readers about how children behave. B. Convince readers of the importance of relationships. C. delight readers with a story about children's play. 6. The tone of this paragraph can be described as A. indulgent. B. funny. C. Self-pity. D. instructive.

“My best school report was in Mrs. Varulo's first grade. 2First, she told my parents about my amazing physical energy: "Lisa never gets tired of chasing and hitting her classmates." please take her pens out of her' -Lisa asks 'why?'”4Mrs. Varulo was so impressed with my vocabulary that he commented, "I don't know where Lisa learned some of the words she uses, certainly not in my classroom."5 I even knew somehow that I would become a famous novelist. 6 "Lisa is a born liar," she wrote, "more than any other student she has ever taught." 7. The main purpose of this paragraph is to inform A. B. persuade. C. talk. 8. The tone of this paragraph is best described as A. enthusiastic and cheerful. B. upset and bitter. C. happy and nostalgic. D. ironic and humorous.

Name section SCORE: (correct number)

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PURPOSE AND TONE: Mastery Test 6 Read the following paragraphs. Then think carefully about the following questions and write the letters of the best answers in the space provided. A

Throughout history, people have suffered from diseases that could have been easily prevented if only they had been understood. 2For example, in the past it was common for Hatters to suffer from uncontrollable tremors, slurred speech, and mental confusion. 3The condition led Lewis Carroll to create the Mad Hatter in his book Alice in Wonderland. 4Unfortunately, hatters didn't know that the mercury they used to make felt hats poisoned them, leading to their strange symptoms. Similarly, many of the world's greatest artists suffered from terrible depression. Today we know that the lead in the paint they used probably affected their mood. 7 How tragic that so many lives have been shattered through lack of knowledge. 1. The main purpose of the passage is to A. inform readers about previously misunderstood ailments. B. to convince readers to protect themselves from easily avoidable complaints. C. the previous two. 2. The tone of the passage can be described as A. Regretful. Angry B. C. alarmed D. pessimistic.

'Al Smith, the Democratic presidential candidate in 1928, was known for his quick wit and quick responses. He 2once he was insulted during a campaign speech. 3 "Tell 'em everything you know, Al," the interrupter yelled. 4 "It won't be long." 5 A1 Smith replied with a smile: "I'll tell you everything we both know, it won't take any longer." 3. The main purpose of this passage is to A. inform students about a humorous aspect of a figure story. B. Convince people to support the Democrats. C. argue that Al Smith should have won the 1928 presidential campaign. 4. The tone of the paragraph can be described as A. Forgive. B. fun. C. bitter. D. incredulous.

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"Three people were killed because a man was angry that his girlfriend wanted to break up with him. 2 Now the state plans to kill him, and it must. Some may argue that taking a lyre for one road is wrong. That's how two mistakes don't do any good 4But making taxpayers give free room and board to a person who killed innocent people is not right.5 And it is not right to put such a dangerous person in prison from which he will probably one day be released to threaten society again 5. The main purpose of this paragraph is to inform A. facts about the death penalty B. Convince readers that the death penalty is valid C. Entertain readers with a description of an interesting problem 6 The general tone of this paragraph can be described as A. passionate B. insulting C. sympathetic and sentimental D. excited and joyful D.

“When people are unemployed, two main sources of stress come into play. One of them is the loss of income with all the economic hardships that this entails. 3 Suddenly there are the difficulties of paying the monthly rent or mortgage, paying the car and paying the credit card bills, managing the utilities and the fundamental question of putting enough food on the table. 4 The other source of stress is the impact of the loss of earnings on workers' feelings about themselves. their job they lose more than their paychecks when they lose their jobs. 6 You lose a part of yourself; They lose their self esteem. two

7. The main purpose of this paragraph is: A. To inform readers about the main sources of stress for the unemployed. B. persuade readers that unemployment must be eliminated, c. Amuse readers with observations of human nature. 8. The tone of this paragraph can be described as A. depressed and sad. B. Angry and desperate. C. surprised but optimistic. D. Serious and pleasant.

Many of us enjoy a good discussion. A good argument is not an emotional experience where people's emotions get out of control and they are ready to throw things away. Instead, it is a rational discussion in which each person takes a position on an issue and supports it. For example, we might argue with a friend about where to eat or which movie to go to. We might argue about whether a boss, parent, or instructor is being fair or unfair. We could argue whether certain artists or sports stars deserve to be paid as much as they do. In a good argument (like the one in the cartoon above), the other person listens carefully as we present our point of view, and waits to see if we actually have strong evidence to back up our point of view. 379

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Arguing is part of our daily dealings with other people. It is also an important part of much of what we read. Authors often try to convince us of their opinions and interpretations. Very often, there are three important things we need to do as critical readers: 1. Recognize what the author means. 2 Decide if the author's endorsement is relevant. 3 Decide if the author's endorsement is appropriate. In this chapter you will practice the above, first on everyday arguments and then on textbook material.

THE BASICS OF THE ARGUMENT: POINT AND SUPPORT A good argument is one in which you make a point and then provide convincing and logical evidence to support it. Here's a point: Point: The Beef and Burger Shop is a bad fast food place. That statement hardly stops us from visiting the Beef and Burger Shop. "Why are you saying that?" legitimately we could say. "Tell me your reasons." Support is needed so that we can decide for ourselves if a valid point has been made. Assuming the point follows these three reasons: 1. Burgers are full of gristle. 2. Roast beef sandwiches taste chemical. 3. Fries are lukewarm and soggy. The details clearly provide strong support for this point. They give us a basis for understanding and agreeing with the point. These details don't make our mouths water at lunch at the Beef and Burger Shop. So here's a little example of what clear thinking in an argument is all about: making a point and offering support that actually supports that point. A valid argument can also be described as a conclusion that is supported by a logical reason, fact, example, and other evidence. Let's look at another example: Point: There are certain creatures you never want to bite. Of course, we don't want a creature to bite us. But in that statement we are told that certain creatures can be particularly bad at walking. We would like supporting details so we can see and judge for ourselves. Here are details:

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1. A bite from a venomous king cobra can cause muscle paralysis and respiratory failure in a matter of minutes. 2. A lion's bite is strong enough to rip off your arm or tear off large chunks of your body. 3. A crocodile's jaws snap shut like a steel trap, and then when the crocodile decides to roll, you can usually wave goodbye to your arm, leg, or whatever's in its mouth. With such strong support, you'll probably agree that the king cobra, lion, and crocodile are particularly fearsome biters, and that a logical point has been made.

The Point and Support of an Argument In everyday life, of course, one does not simply say "Here is my point" and "Here is my support." Also, writers don't write their ideas so directly. Even so, the basic structure of point and support continues to work below the surface, and to evaluate an argument you must acknowledge this point. The following exercise will help you distinguish between a point and its support.

Exercise 1 In each group of statements, one statement is the point and the other statement or statements support the point. Mark each point with a P and each supporting statement with an S. HINT: If you add the word because it sounds correct before a sentence, you probably have a supporting statement. For example, we might say, "Because the hamburgers are full of gristle, the roast beef sandwiches taste chemical, and the fries are lukewarm and soggy, I came to the conclusion that the Beef and Burger Shop is a lousy place." fast food restaurant." ."

A. He has constant headaches and blurred vision. B. You should see a doctor.

A. Several accidents have occurred at this intersection. B. A signal is required at the intersection.

A. There is always a TV blaring in a room coin. B. The student lounge is not a place for quiet study. C. There are always people talking loudly to each other.

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A. High schools must teach personal finance skills. B. Many young people do not know how to budget their money. C. More and more people are getting seriously into credit card debt. 5.

A. Cats refuse to learn stupid tricks just to amuse people. B. Cats are smarter than dogs. C. Dogs accept cruel mistreatment, but when a cat is mistreated, it runs away.

A. Scientists have shown that acid rain damages trees and bodies of water. B. Laws should be enacted to reduce acid rain. C. The damage caused by acid rain is difficult or impossible to reverse.

A. Fewer companies offer health insurance and retirement plans. B. Conditions at work are tougher than they used to be. C. In many industries, workers have accepted wage cuts.

A. The people upstairs are making a lot of noise. B. We'd better find another apartment. C. Cockroaches seem to be invading this apartment. D. The landlord just promises to fix leaky faucets.

A. The library must remain open on Sundays and holidays. B. Many students save their studies for the days they don't teach. C. The library facilities are overcrowded on weekdays. D. During the week, other students often use books and other research materials they need.

A. Almost half of the stores in the mall are empty. B. A deathly silence fills the building. C. This mall is a depressing place. D. Unhappy-looking merchants stare at the few shoppers who walk by.

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Relevant Support Once you have identified the point and support of an argument, you must decide whether each piece of evidence is relevant; in other words, if it really fits the point. The critical reader must ask: "Is this reason a relevant support for the argument?" In their eagerness to make arguments, people often bring up irrelevant support. For example, if he's trying to persuade you to lend him some money this week, a friend might say, "You didn't lend me money last week when I needed it." The question is whether or not you should lend him money this week. A great way to develop your ability to spot relevant support is to work through simple argument outlines, point by point. By isolating the reasons for an argument, these outlines help you reflect on whether each reason is really relevant. Paying close attention to the relevance of the prompt will help with both writing and reading.

Check Your Understanding Consider the following schematic. The point is followed by six "facts", of which only three are relevant supports for the point. See if you can verify the numbers of the three relevant supporting statements ( / ). Point: My dog Otis is not very bright 1. He is five years old and still does not respond to his name. 2. He cries every day when I go to work. 3. He is always happy when visitors come. 4. He often attacks the backyard hedge as if he were an enemy animal. 5. he Gets along very well with my neighbor's cat. 6. I often have to leave food for him because he can't find it himself. Now read the following comments on the six points to see which ones you should have checked and why. Explanation: 1. Most dogs know his names, so Otis's ignorance of his own name reveals a poor memory, and memory is an aspect of intelligence. You should have checked the number of this item. 2. Even a smart dog can be sad when his companions leave the house. 3. Both bright and less bright dogs are happy to see old and new human friends.

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4. The inability to distinguish between a bush and an animal, friendly or hostile, indicates a lack of analytical skills. This is the second item you should have checked the number for. 5. Dogs of all intelligence levels are known to be friendly towards cats. 6. Since most dogs recognize food much more often than their owners would like, Otis' inability to find food clearly indicates poor problem-solving skills. You should also have checked the number of this item.

Exercise 2 Each element is followed by three statements that provide relevant support and three that do not. In the spaces, write the letters of the three relevant supporting statements. Tip: To help you decide whether or not a sentence is irrelevant, ask yourself, "Is this logical support for the point being made?"

1st point: There are wild animals even in the middle of the city. A. Raccoons sometimes ambush garbage collectors near city dwellings. B. Development has driven many animals from their homes. C. Squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits live in city parks. D. Heavy traffic makes it dangerous for animals in the city. E. Many people in the town have a cat or a dog. F. Hawks build their nests on the windowsills of skyscrapers. Points that logically support the point: Point 2: Singapore is a society with strict controls on people's behavior. A. There are four official languages spoken in Singapore. B. Singapore declared its independence from Malaysia in 1965. C. Chewing gum on the street is prohibited by law. D. Most Singaporeans are of Chinese, Malay, or Indian descent. E. Persons convicted of vandalism are flogged with a long rattan stick. Q. There is a $95 fine for failing to flush a public restroom. Elements that logically support the point:

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Point 3: In general, brightly colored fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than lightly colored ones. A. Broccoli, spinach, kale, and Swiss chard are very nutritious. B. Bananas are the top-selling fruit in the United States. C. More adults than children like strong-tasting vegetables like spinach. D. Dark orange sweet potatoes are more nutritious than regular white potatoes. E. Many vegetables are delicious both cooked and raw. F. Pale green iceberg lettuce is mostly water and low in vitamins. Elements that logically support the point: 4. Po

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