U4

Science and Technology Contents

4.1

Introducing some vocabulary to do with science and technology More work on understanding dictionary definitions Understanding the writer’s purpose — persuading Practice reading fictional texts Learning about figurative language Practice with the cloze exercise Practice writing a two-sided essay

Pre-reading — vocabulary

The article below is about the environmental problems caused by used mobile phone batteries, which are classified as hazardous waste (dangerous rubbish) and so have to be disposed of (thrown away) in a special way. The article uses some of the vocabulary from Option 4 Unit 8 ‘The Environment’. Check that you know the meaning of these environment-related words and phrases: dispose of

hazardous /«hæzWdWs/

refuse n /«refjuÄz/

disposal

monitor

rubbish

dump v

recycling /riÄ«saˆklˆ˜/

throw sth. in the bin

guidelines

recyclable /riÄ«saˆklWbl/

waste n

The article also contains some technical vocabulary, such as ‘nickel-metalhydrate and lithium ions’ in line 4. Do not be put off by vocabulary like this — it is never necessary to know the exact meaning of the technical words which sometimes appear in the reading comprehension passages. In this example, all you need to know is that these are the dangerous chemicals in mobile phone batteries. It is easy to understand this in the context of the sentence.

4.2

Pre-reading — discussion

Ask your partner these questions. 1. How often do you change your mobile phone? (Recent research has found that Hong Kong people change their phones more often than people in any other country.) 2. When did you last change your phone? 3. What did you do with the old batteries? 4. Did you know that the batteries contain dangerous chemicals? 5. Do you know about any facilities in Hong Kong for disposing of batteries safely? 6. Do you think this is a serious problem? Why? Why not?

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4.3 Reading practice Read the following article and then answer the questions.

Mobile Phone Battery Disposal

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Few users may have noticed the warning at the back of their mobile phone battery, or care that its hazardous chemical waste should not be simply thrown into the bin. But one person who has noticed it is businessman Nick Thompson. He has several old phone batteries — which ‘contain nickel-metalhydrate and lithium ions’, and ‘may explode if damaged or disposed of in fire’, according to the warnings. Nick would like to dispose of them responsibly but he doesn’t know where, or how. “I went to a mobile phone shop, and asked them if they disposed of the old ones,” he says. “They looked at me as if I was from another planet.” It is totally unsatisfactory that only one of the six mobile phone networks disposes of waste batteries environmentally. Most still end up in the bin. Eugene Tang Yee-kin of phone-maker Siemens says 1.5 million mobile phones were sold in Hong Kong last year. “Though it greatly varies, a new battery lasts about a year, so there are about 1.5 million waste ones per year,” he says. Queensway Junior Chamber vice-president Nini Chia Nyuk-ni said, “It is ridiculous that the manufacturers tell you to carefully dispose of the battery, but give no guidelines about how to do it! Everyone uses mobile phones, and people keep changing models. Everyone just chucks their batteries into the bin and then the waste gets dumped in a landfill. It is bound to have an adverse effect on the environment.” Nini is working on campaign which aims to raise awareness of the issue. “It is expensive to arrange for the waste batteries to be collected because they are all over the territory. It would be better to introduce a law that people have to return their old battery before they can buy a new phone,” she says. But return them to where? The mobile network companies have different policies. The Networks company says its customers never ask for their batteries be collected. Cable and Wireless HKT says it accepts the batteries with old handsets when customers trade them in, and sells them on to second-hand phone shops. Peoples network says it employs a licensed chemical waste collector if necessary, while disappointingly Hutchison Telecom refuses to take back old batteries. So does Motorola, one of the leading mobile manufacturers. “We don’t take used batteries from end-users. They bought the batteries and it’s up to them to dispose of them properly,” a spokesman said unhelpfully. Sony-Ericsson collects faulty batteries but offers no used battery collection service. Instead it advises customers to follow the disposal guidelines issued by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Mobile phone batteries are defined by the EPD as ‘chemical waste’, which means they must be disposed of in a particular way. An EPD spokesman outlined the procedure: “Companies which produce chemical waste must employ licensed operators to dispose of it at the chemical waste landfill in the South East New Territories.” Siemens should be congratulated for being the only manufacturer in the SAR which currently does this. Five years ago it set up a service centre in Wan Chai to process waste batteries. “We store the batteries and then hand them over to a company which is licensed by the EPD to collect chemical waste,” explained a Siemens spokesman. Greenpeace campaigner Clement Lam Hau-keen very sensibly argues that the responsibility for disposing or processing such waste should not fall on consumers or the Government. “We think it is up to the manufacturers. Either they should take the waste batteries back, or they should come up with a better design using recyclable materials,” he said. Fortunately, the EPD seems to agree. An EPD spokesman commented, “One option being considered is the ‘producer pays’ scheme

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which would require manufacturers to pay to process their own waste products. This approach is widely practised in other countries, and we’ll consider which measures would be most suitable for Hong Kong.” 45

The disposal of mobile phone batteries is a serious problem, and it is disgraceful that most of the networks and manufacturers are unwilling to do anything about it. The EDP should set up a compulsory system for disposal as soon as possible.

1. What is Nick Thompson’s problem? He doesn’t know

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2. Why are the phrases ‘contain nickel-metalhydrate and lithium ions’, and ‘may explode if damaged or disposed of in fire’ (lines 4) in quotation marks?

3. In line 7, the phrase ‘was from another planet’ means .... A. was a stranger. B. was wearing strange clothes. C. looked very strange. D. was mad.

3.

4. In line 9, what does ‘Most’ refer to? 5. How does Nini Chia Nyuk-ni think about the battery disposal situation? A. She thinks it is funny. B. She does not understand it. C. She does not think it is very important. D. She is angry about it.

5.

6. What does ‘it’ refer to in line 13? 7. Which of the following is the correct definition of ‘chuck’ in line 14? 1. chuck v /tß√k/ (infml esp Brit) to throw sth carelessly or casually 2. chuck sth in (infml) to give up sth, e.g. He chucked in his job last week. 3. PHR V chuck sb off sth (infml) to force sb to leave a place, e.g. The driver chucked the noisy students off the bus. 4. chuck n a part of a tool, e.g. a DRILL, that can be adjusted to grip sth tightly. Ö picture at DRILL

7.

8. Which of the following is the correct definition of ‘bound’ in line 15? 1. bound /ba¨nd/ v to run with a jumping movement, e.g. The dog bounded up to us wagging its tail. 2. bound adj ~ for going in the direction of a place, e.g. We are bound for home. 3. bound pt, pp of BIND 4. bound adj ~ to do sth certain to do sth, e.g. The weather is bound to get better tomorrow.

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8.

According to paragraphs 4 and 5, what are these companies’ policies for dealing with customers’ used mobile phone batteries? Tick the appropriate box in the table. company

accepts used batteries

refuses used batteries

not stated

9. Networks 10. Cable & Wireless 11. Peoples 12. Hutchison Telecom 13. Motorola 14. Sony-Ericsson 15. Siemens

16. What word does the writer use in paragraph 4 to show that he does not approve of Motorola’s policy?

17. What is the writer’s opinion of Siemens’ policy?

18. What is the meaning of the sentence ‘It is up to the manufacturers.’ in line 39? It is the 19. What is the idea behind the ‘producer pays’ scheme (line 41)?

20. What is the writer’s purpose in this passage? A. To inform. B. To entertain. C. To congratulate. D. To persuade.

20.

21. What is the best alternative title for this article? A. Greenpeace wins phone battery battle. B. Phone companies introduce battery recycling scheme. C. Government must deal now with battery pollution. D. Hong Kong people change phones most often.

21.

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4.4

Dictionary entry questions

In Option 4 Unit 2 we looked at the most common abbreviations used in the dictionary. The two dictionary entry questions (7 and 8) in Exercise 4.3 include several of these abbreviations. What do these abbreviations mean? n v pt pp adj esp infml Brit PHR V sb sth Questions 7 and 8 also contain some other dictionary conventions: a) a word written in capital letters (e.g. BIND, DRILL) tells us that more information can be found at the entries for these words b) Ö means ‘see’ or ‘go to’ c) ~ is an abbreviation for the headword of the entry. So, in the entry for bound in question 8, ~ for means ‘bound for’, and ~ to do sth means ‘bound to do something’

4.5

Questions about the author’s purpose — persuading

Most newspaper articles are written in a ‘neutral’ style. Their aim is to inform. It is not possible to know what the writer’s opinion is. In this article, however, the writer is intending to persuade. We know this because the writer makes his/ her own opinions and feelings very clear. The writer does this in several ways. He/she: z uses positive adverbs about actions and ideas he/she approves of, e.g. Fortunately, the EPD seems to agree. z uses negative adjectives about actions and ideas he/she disapproves of, e.g. They bought the batteries and it’s up to them to dispose of them properly,” a spokesman said unhelpfully. z states his/her opinion directly, e.g. Siemens should be congratulated…

4.6

Identifying the writer’s opinion — practice

Below are six sentences from the passage. Some of them are neutral — they simply give us information. Others contain the writer’s opinion about what someone else has said or done. Write ‘N’ (for neutral) next to purely factual sentences. Write ‘O’ next to sentences where the writer expresses his opinion. It is disgraceful that most of the networks and manufacturers are unwilling to do anything about it. 1.5 million mobile phones were sold in Hong Kong last year. The EDP should set up a compulsory system for disposal as soon as possible. Disappointingly, Hutchison Telecom refuses to take back old batteries. It is expensive to arrange for the waste batteries to be collected. Five years ago it set up a service centre in Wan Chai to process waste batteries.

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4.7

Reading practice — a science fiction story

The new HKCEE paper contains a wide variety of texts, including fiction texts. Below is an example of a fiction text, with typical questions.

My alien story by Bill

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One Saturday last summer my friend Ben and I walked down to Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung Country Park. We sat down on the sand and I started reading my book. “I’m bored,” said Ben after about three minutes. “Why do we always come here? There’s no-one else here. Nothing ever happens…” “Well, that’s how I like it. Calm and peaceful. It makes a very pleasant change from home.” “Yes, that’s true,” said Ben. “What are you reading?” “It’s called ’20,000 Leagues under the Sea’. It’s a science-fiction story about a man called Captain Nemo who has a submarine. He has adventures under water, like fighting a giant squid, and stuff like that.” “Wouldn’t it be cool if all those science-fiction stories were real!” said Ben. At that moment there was a loud rumbling, like the sound of a jumbo jet taking off. The sea in front of us tossed and boiled. “It’s a tsunami!” I shouted. We shot to the back of the beach in panic and hid behind some rocks. The rumbling got louder and louder, but no wave came. Then the sound stopped. We looked cautiously round the rocks. A silver cylinder about the size of a car had pulled up on the beach. “Wow! That is so cool!” whispered Ben. “Sh!” I hissed nervously. “It’s probably got a nasty slimy thing in it, like in the movie ‘Alien’. Ben wasn’t as scared as me. “I think they’re probably cute little green men,” he replied. Just then a hatch opened and three cute little green men hopped out. “See. I told you so!” said Ben. “Shut up,” I replied. The men were about half a metre tall. They had small round heads, big round bodies and little arms and feet. Their skin looked shiny and smooth like a balloon. They glowed like fluorescent fish. The men were looking around them in a puzzled kind of way. They scratched their heads and muttered to each other in a language we couldn’t understand. Then one of them looked straight at us and said something loudly. “It can see us! It’s got X-ray eyes!” said Ben excitedly. He stood up. “Sorry, I can’t understand you,” he said in English. “What are you speaking in English for? Why don’t you speak in Cantonese?” I grumbled. “I’m speaking in English because everybody understands English!” Bill replied patiently. “But they’re aliens! They won’t understand anything!” “Sorry about that,” interrupted one of the aliens in perfect English. “My translation machine wasn’t working properly before.” “See. They can speak English — I told you so,” said Ben. “Shut up,” I repeated, crossly.

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“Excuse me,” said the alien. “Sorry to bother you, but is this Tai Long Wan?” “Yes, it is,” I said. “Oh.” He looked disappointed. “But where are all the people, and where’s the café?” He produced a picture of a beach and gave it to me. “I downloaded this off the internet. It doesn’t look anything like here.” “Oh, I see,” I said. “You’ve come to the wrong Tai Long Wan. You want Big Wave Bay, on the other side of Hong Kong Island.” The aliens looked very annoyed. They started arguing with each other. One of them produced a small geo-positioning device. He threw it on to the sand and jumped up and down on it. After a while they all calmed down. “Where are you from?” asked Ben. “Mars,” one of them replied. “But I thought there wasn’t any life on Mars,” said Ben. The alien looked offended. “Well, there is. And we are it!” “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude,” said Ben hurriedly. “Er, have you brought any female aliens with you?” I asked, changing the subject. The aliens laughed and laughed. “We are females!” one said. “You won’t see any males from our planet on Saturdays! They just sit around at home watching sport on satellite TV.” “They do that here too,” I said. “Oh well. We must be off,” said the alien. “Thanks for your help.” “No problem,” I said, “Have a nice day.” “You too.” They hopped back into the silver cylinder, which then slipped smoothly back into the sea. “Awesome!” said Ben. “That was totally awesome!”

1. From paragraph 1 we can infer that Ben is .... A. hard-working. B. unimaginative. C. impatient. D. worried.

1.

2. According to paragraph 1, the writer’s home-life is NOT

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3. In line 10, what does Bill mean by ‘stuff like that’?

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4. What is making the ‘rumbling’ sound in line 12?

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5. Which of the following is the correct definition of ‘shot’ in line 14? shoot /ßuÄt/ v (pt, pp shot /ßÅt/) 1. to fire a gun, e.g. Don’t shoot me! 2. to move suddenly in one direction, e.g. The sports car shot past us. 3. to photograph or film sb/sth, e.g. The film was shot in Hong Kong. 4. ~ (at sth) to kick or hit a ball in order to score a goal

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5.

6. The writer is worried about what might be in the silver cylinder. (Tick the appropriate box) True

False

Not stated

7. Why does Ben say that the alien has got ‘X-ray eyes’ (line 30)?

8. Why does the writer reply ‘crossly’ to Ben (line 38)? A. Ben keeps making mistakes. B. Ben speaks to the aliens in English. C. Ben keeps being right about the aliens. D. Ben is not frightened of the aliens.

8.

9. The alien looks ‘disappointed’ (line 41) because .... A. the bay looks different to what he was expecting. B. he is lost. C. he does not want to talk to Bill and Ben. D. he has lost something.

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10. In line 52 what does ‘it’ refer to? 11. Why do the aliens laugh (line 55)? A. One of the aliens has told a joke. B. The aliens are embarrassed. C. The writer has told a joke. D. The writer has made a funny mistake.

11.

12. In line 58, what do ‘They’ and ‘that’ refer to? they: that: 13. The writer’s purpose in this passage is to A. inform. B. entertain. C. complain. D. shock.

4.8

the reader.

13.

The cloze exercise

Sometimes in the reading section you are asked to complete a cloze exercise. The text of the cloze is a summary of part (or all) of the reading passage. Often the style and text-type of the cloze is different from the original reading passage (This is the case in the practice example below, where the original text is a short story by Bill, while the summary is a diary entry by Ben.) This type of cloze exercise requires you to: z z

z

Fully understand the original reading passage. Complete each sentence using appropriate grammar and vocabulary so that it has the same meaning as the original. Complete each sentence using words that are appropriate to the style of the summary passage.

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Examination tips — the cloze z z

z

z

z

z

z

4.9

re-read the original passage that is summarised in the cloze exercise. read the whole cloze passage before you start answering any of the questions — to make sure you understand it, and that you know what style it is written in (e.g. formal or informal). check that your answers fit grammatically — especially check agreement, parts of speech, verb tenses. check that your answers fit the style of the cloze passage — especially the level of formality. after you have chosen each answer, read through the whole sentence to make sure it sounds right. if you do not know the answer to a question, leave it and come back to it later (sometimes there is a clue to the answer in a later sentence). always answer every question — if you do not know the answer, guess intelligently.

The cloze exercise — practice

Here is Ben’s diary entry for the day that he saw the aliens. Complete the diary. Use ONE word only in each blank. Some, but not all, the missing words can be found in the original passage. One has been done for you as an example. [Note: diaries are written in an informal style.]

Ben’s diary entry

Today was the (1) (2) We (3)

amazing day of my life! Bill and I

1)

down to Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung Country Park.

2)

only been there for a few minutes when we

3)

heard a strange noise. We hid (4)

some rocks because

4)

we thought a tsunami was (5)

. Suddenly a silver

5)

submarine rumbled up on to the beach. Bill was (6)

6)

scared than me because he thought (7)

7)

was a nasty

alien inside the submarine.

After a moment we saw three cute little green aliens (8)

8)

out! They could see us hiding behind the rocks because (9)

9)

their X-ray eyes. To begin with, we (10)

understand

them, but then they started speaking in English. It turned out that

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10)

walked

they were lost. They were looking for the (11)

Tai

11)

planet they were from, and they said

12)

Long Wan on Hong Kong Island.

I asked them (12)

they were from Mars. We thought they were male aliens, and we they had brought any females with

asked them (13)

them. They thought this was very (14)

because actually

14)

aliens. They said that all the male

15)

back home watching sport on satellite TV.

16)

they were all (15) aliens (16)

13)

After a few minutes they got back into their submarine and (17)

4.10

. It was awesome!

17)

The cloze exercise — practice rewriting sentences

The pairs of sentences below illustrate some of the ways that the same meaning can be expressed through different grammatical forms. Complete the second sentence so it has the same meaning as the first. Example: Antonyms (words having opposite meanings), one with a negative verb. a. Wendy ran slowly. b. Wendy didn’t run quickly. 1. Parts of speech — adjectives and adverbs a. He did a good job. b. He did the job

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2. Parts of speech — nouns and adjectives a. She’s not interested in sport. b. She has no

in sport.

3. Parts of speech — verbs and nouns a. We must act at once. b. We must take

at once.

4. Direct and indirect speech — statements a. “I have a big problem with my homework,” Ann said. b. Ann said that she

a big problem with her homework.

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5. Direct and indirect speech — questions a. “Can you help me?” Dan asked us. b. Dan asked us

we

help him.

6. Passive and active sentences a. The driver was driving the car too fast. b. The car was

too fast.

7. Connectors with the same meaning but different structures a. Despite her intelligence, she usually does badly in exams. b. Although she

very

, she usually

does badly in exams.

4.11

Lively and figurative language

Stories, poetry and personal communications (such as letters and diaries) use more lively and figurative language than non-fiction texts (such as newspaper articles and formal letters). There are four different types of figurative language — similes /«sˆmWliÄz/, metaphors, personification and idioms.

Similes A simile is a comparison which is invented by the writer to make a more lively description of someone or something. A simile begins with as or like. The two things being compared in a simile usually have only one thing in common, e.g. The aliens glowed like fluorescent fish. [The aliens glowed like the fish, but they are not like fish in other ways — they do not live in the sea or have fins and a tail.] Metaphors A metaphor is a statement where the writer describes something as if it really was something else, e.g. The sea boiled. [The sea did not really boil because it cannot get hot enough to boil.] Note: there is no as or like in a metaphor, because a metaphor is not a comparison. Personification Personification is when the writer describes what an object is as if it were a person, e.g. The old car’s engine coughed, spluttered and died. [A car’s engine is not alive, so it cannot really ‘cough’ or ‘die.’] Idioms Idioms are not invented by the writer. They are standard phrases which have a different meaning from their literal meaning. (In fact their literal meaning is often nonsense.) You must learn idioms one by one. Luckily the meaning is often obvious from the context, e.g. “I was over the moon after I scored three goals!” [over the moon means delighted, very pleased] If you cannot guess the meaning of an idiom, you can look up the idiom’s keyword in the dictionary. For example, in the following dictionary entry you can find three idioms to do with the moon: IDM many moons ago a long time ago, e.g. He was my boyfriend many moons ago. once in a blue moon very rarely, e.g. I go to the theatre once in a blue moon. over the moon (infml) extremely happy, e.g. We were over the moon at winning the competition.

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4. 12

Lively and figurative language — practice

Decide whether these sentences contain literal or figurative language. Next to each sentence, write ‘L’ for literal, ‘S’ for simile, ‘M’ for metaphor, ‘P’ for personification and ‘I’ for idiom. 1. Andy’s karaoke singing sounded like two cats fighting. 2. A tsunami washes through the bathroom every time Ann has a shower. 3. Computers are much more powerful than they used to be. 4. Peter turned green with envy when he saw my new phone. 5. The rainstorm strode across New Territories, soaking every one and everything in its path. 6. Jane’s not doing her homework properly — she will be in trouble if she doesn’t pull her socks up. 7. The Peak looks down calmly at the ever-changing face of the harbour. 8. Jake’s deodorant smelt like there had been an accident at the chemical factory. 9. Red and gold are the most important colours at Chinese New Year. 10. That’s my friend Arnold over there. He is a great big bad-tempered bear!

COMPOSITION Task 2 (long task) Complete ONE of these tasks. Write about 250 words. 1. One day as you passed a workshop you saw the scene in the picture below. Describe what happened next.

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2. Science brought us many wonderful inventions in the last century, such as television, the computer, the internet, the mobile phone, and console games (such as Playstation). However, all of these inventions have disadvantages as well as advantages. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of one twentieth century invention and give your own opinion about it.

4.13

Writing practice — Question 1 One day as you passed a workshop you saw the scene in the picture. Describe what happened next.

Tips for this composition (story based on one picture) z decide on the tone of the composition — is it funny, serious, frightening? z decide whether the story is being told in the first person (‘I’) or the third person. z think of a surprising ‘twist’ to the story z use dialogue to make the story real z use figurative language to describe the setting and the monster Useful words and phrases monster creature ways of talking: grunt, groan, stutter, roar, growl, howl, moan ways of moving: limp, lurch, stumble, stagger, sway mad scientist Frankenstein come to life

4.14

Writing practice — Question 2 Science brought us many wonderful inventions in the last century, such as television, the computer, the internet, the mobile phone, and console games (such as Playstation). However, all of these inventions have disadvantages as well as advantages. Describe the advantages and disadvantages of one twentieth century invention and give your own opinion about it.

Read the model answer and the notes. Then write your own answer. Model answer (two-sided essay)

Television The last century brought us many wonderful inventions. One of the most important of these inventions was television, which has improved the lives of people all over the world. However, television also has its drawbacks. In this composition I will write about both the advantages and disadvantages of television. The three main advantages of television are that it provides cheap entertainment, information, and news. First I will write about entertainment. Before the invention of television, people either entertained themselves at home, or listened to the radio, or they went out to a music, film or theatre show. For many people going out to a show was impossible because it was too

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expensive, or too far away. Now with television we enjoy a wonderful variety of programmes in our own homes, such as comedies, dramas, quizzes, reality TV shows, serials and sports events. Even poor villagers in Africa or China can enjoy television in their local bar or café. Secondly, television is a powerful source of information. We can learn much from documentaries about the natural world, other countries, history and science. We also learn about how other people live by seeing programmes made in their countries, for example, detective shows from America, comedies from England, serials from Korea. Thirdly, television news helps us to understand each other because we can see what is happening in other places. On the other hand, television also has its disadvantages. Firstly, it reduces the richness of family life. Most families now watch television instead of talking, playing games or even going out together. Additionally, American programmes and advertising are making people around the world live and think the same way. Finally, television can make people unhappy, as the people on TV seem to be richer and happier than them. In conclusion, I think that television is a good thing. Although it has its disadvantages, it brings enjoyment and knowledge to millions of people.

Plan for this composition (two sided essay) Title z invent a title Paragraph 1 — introduction z restate the composition topic z say which aspect you will write about z say that there are advantages and disadvantages to it Paragraph 2 — advantages z say how many advantages there are, and introduce them z write about the first advantage – main idea, supporting points, reasons, examples z contrast the situation in the past with the situation now (Before…. Now….) Paragraph 3 — more advantages z introduce other advantages Paragraph 4 — disadvantages z introduce disadvantages (start topic sentence with However,… On the other hand…) Paragraph 5 — conclusion z give your opinion z refer to the arguments on the other side (Although it has its disadvantages…) z summarise the reasons for your opinion [Note: you may need to add extra paragraphs about advantages or disadvantages, if you have lots of ideas] Tips for this composition z note that the inventions listed in the title are examples — you can write about a different invention if you want z have a clear plan (see above) z write in the Present Simple tense when making points z write in a formal style (no abbreviations, contractions, exclamation marks, etc) z use ‘I’ only to explain the organisation of your composition (In this composition I will write

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z z z z z z

about…), and to give your opinion at the end (In conclusion, I think that…) use ‘we’ and ‘us’ to describe ‘everybody’ (We can learn much from documentaries…) start each paragraph with a topic sentence, stating your main idea follow your main idea with supporting points indicate your supporting points with Firstly, secondly. additionally, finally, etc. give examples of your points, starting with for example, such as, etc. give reasons for your points, starting with because or as

Useful words and phrases The last century brought us many wonderful inventions. One of the most important of these inventions was.. In this composition I will write about both the advantages and disadvantages of… The three main advantages of television are… First I will write about entertainment. Before the invention of television,...Now with television… First, second, third… Firstly, secondly, thirdly, additionally, finally On the other hand/However, television also has its disadvantages… In conclusion, I think that television is a good thing. Overall, in my opinion television has more benefits than drawbacks./…does more good than harm. Although it has its disadvantages, …

4.13

Vocabulary checklist

Check that you understand these new words and phrases in this unit. alien /«eˆlˆWn/ approach n (method) awesome /øÄsWm/ be bound to chuck v infml (throw) come to life creature /kriÄtßW/ cylinder /sˆlˆndW/ deodorant /diÄ«W¨dWrWnt/ detective show device /dˆ«vaˆs/ disgraceful documentary /dÅkjuÄ«mentrˆ/ Environmental Protection Department (EPD) explode faulty /føÄltˆ/ fluorescent /flW«resnt/ groan growl /˝ra¨l/ grumble grunt handset hatch have an adverse effect on howl

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impatient it is up to sb. to do sth. limp lurch moan monster mumble offended /W«fendˆd/ quiz show raise awareness about sth. reality TV show /rˆ«ælWtˆ/ roar rumble satellite TV /sætWlaˆt/ science-fiction serial (TV show) slimy source (origin) splutter squid stagger stumble stutter sway