GENERAL-TO-SPECIFIC TEXT

A) Consider the following sentence definitions and answer the questions:

1) Which definition a or b is more academic?

2) Which of them is only acceptable in spoken English or E-mails? Give your reasons.

 

a) An amplifier is a piece of electronic equipment used to make music and other sounds louder.

b) An amplifier is something that makes music and other sounds louder.

 

Note: 1. Avoid using any form of your term in the definition. Sting is pain you feel when an insect, plant, or animal stings you. → Sting is a wound or pain caused by sticking a sharp part of an insect’s (plant’s, or animal’s) body into skin. 2. Avoid using when and where in the definition. Flood is when water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land. → Flood is a high-water stage in which water overflows its natural or artificial banks onto normally dry land. 3. Avoid using verb + preposition combination. Basis is a base a structure can be built on. → Basis is a base on which a structure can be built.

 

B) Make the following definitions more academic:

1) A float is an object used in fishing that floats on the water.

2) A hospital is a place where people stay when they are ill or injured and need a lot of care from doctors and nurses.

3) A nightmare is a very frightening and unpleasant thing a person dreams about.

4) To convict is when a person’s guilt of a crime is proven in a court of law.

5) To cease is when some actions stop happening or continuing.

 

C) Consider these definitions once again and notice that each of them is completed by some form of restrictive clause and has the following structure:

(A)	term	is	(a)	class	wh -word (that, which, who)	specific detail.
An	amplifier	is	a	piece of electronic equipment	which	makes music and other sounds louder.

 

1) What does the indefinite article before the class indicate?

2) What does the indefinite article before the term indicate?

3) In what cases is no article used?

 

D) Insert the article a, an, or the where necessary in the following definitions:

1) …… Aluminum is …… light malleable ductile silvery-white metallic element that resists …… corrosion.

2) …… Robot is …… machine that resembles …… human and does mechanical, routine tasks on command.

3) …… Helium is …… inert, gaseous element present in …… sun's atmosphere and in …… natural gas.

4) …… Collagen is …… white, inelastic …… protein abundant in higher animals, forming …… strong insoluble fibers and serving as connective tissue between cells.

5) …… Brake is …… device for slowing or stopping …… vehicle or other moving mechanism by …… absorption or transfer of …… energy of momentum, usually by means of friction.

 

E) Complete the following definitions by inserting the appropriate preposition:

1) An axis is a line …… which a three-dimensional body or figure is symmetrical.

2) Transduction is a technique …… which genes are inserted into host cell by means of viral infection.

3) A riser is a set of stairs …… which a group of people can stand.

4) Photosynthesis is a complex process …… which carbon dioxide, water, and certain inorganic salts are converted into carbohydrates by green plants, algae, and certain bacteria, using energy from the sun and chlorophyll.

5) An anhydride is a compound …… which water has been abstracted.

 

F) Define the following terms. Use your dictionary, if necessary:

Neon, carbon dioxide, astronaut, mitosis, steam engine, atomic energy, electric current, satellite.