Writing module 2

EXTRA PRACTICE 1 I. Read the two paragraphs. Which is better? Why? A/ Marie has long black hair that falls down to her shoulders and surrounds her diamond-shaped face, which is usually suntanned. She has dark brown eyebrows over her blue eyes, which are rather large. Her nose is straight, and on the left side of the bottom of her nose, by her nostril, is a small mole. She has a small mouth, with lips that are usually covered with light pink lipstick. Her teeth are straight and white. B/ Marie is as beautiful as any Hollywood starlet. Her thick, wavy, long black hair gracefully falls down to her shoulders and surrounds her exquisite, diamond-shaped face. A golden suntan usually highlights her smooth, clear complexion. Her slightly arched chestnut brown eyebrows draw attention to her deep blue eyes, which remind me of a lake on a stormy day. Her eyes are large, but not too large, with thick eyelashes. Her nose is straight and neither too long nor too short. A small black mole on the left side of her mouth adds to her beauty. And her mouth! It is a small mouth that looks delicate and feminine. Her lips are rather thin, but not too thin; her light pink lipstick adds another touch of feminine beauty. When she smiles, which is often, her well-formed and even, white teeth brighten up her whole face. There is nothing but extraordinary beauty in the face of Marie.
_________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________

II. Write a topic sentence for each of the following paragraphs 1. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ Most importantly, they are kept for pleasure and companionship. In fact, many people consider their pet to be part of the family. In addition to their value as loved and loving companions, pets serve practical purposes, such as protecting homes and property, destroying vermin, and even providing means of transportation. They may also serve as emotional outlets for the elderly or the childless. Recently, the benefit of pet-facilitated psychotherapy has been demonstrated. Finally, some people keep pets for their beauty or rarity or, in the case of birds, for their songs. 2. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ For instance, climate affects the kinds of clothes we wear and even the colors we choose to wear. Since it affects the kinds of crops we can grow successfully, it influences our eating habits. Architecture is also 1

Writing module 2

affected by climate. Engineers and architects must think about climate when they make decisions about the construction, materials, design, and style of buildings. Even our choices in transportation are determined by the climate in which we live. Climate also plays a big part in economic development. A climate that is too hot, too cold, or too dry makes farming, industry, and transportation difficult and slows down economic development. 3. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ Symptoms may last for one day or several days and vary greatly in severity. Chronobiologists, scientists who study the effects of time on living things, say that the seriousness of your reaction depends on several factors. One factor is the number of time zones you crossed. Your jet lag will probably be worse if you crossed several time zones. Another factor is whether you flew east to west or west to east. It is easier to adjust after an east-to-west flight. Personality factors also affect how easily you adapt to the new time. For example, "night" people adapt more easily than "morning" people. Extroverts adjust more easily than introverts. Flexible people who don't mind changes have fewer problems than inflexible people who are rigid and don't like change. Younger people suffer less than older people. Finally, healthier people usually get over jet lag more easily than people who are sick. 4. ______________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________ For example, True Value hardware stores sold half a million shovels during the winter of 1994. This was up 75 percent from the year before. Customers also bought 50 million pounds of rock salt, which is used to melt ice. Ice scrapers were another "hot" item. ServiStar's sales of ice scrapers in December, January, and February equaled sales of the past four years combined. Finally, sales of winter clothes were higher than ever. For example, hat sales were up 13 percent, and retailers sold about 95 million pairs of gloves. One company, L. L. Bean, usually sells 150,000 pairs of its most popular winter boot, but during the winter of '94, it sold over 350,000 pairs. III. Read the following paragraph. Does it have perfect unity? Identify the irrelevant sentence: Each of the Russian manned space exploration projects had specific major goals. For example, the Vostok project was designed to test whether or not human beings could survive and function in outer space. For another example, the Voshkhod project was intended to find out whether people could work in the weightless environment of space. One Voshkhod cosmonaut experimented with weightlessness by taking a "spacewalk." That is, he floated in a spacesuit outside his Voshkhod spacecraft, connected to it by a tether. The cosmonaut to do this was Alexei Leonov. Several weeks later, Leonov's spacewalk was followed by that of U.S. astronaut Ed White. Finally, the Soyuz project, with three cosmonauts, had goals of testing spacecraft and spaceflight skills so that people could fly long missions in Earth orbit. IV. Insert transition signals to improve coherence of the following paragraph. Each of the U.S. manned space exploration projects had specific major goals. The Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human beings could survive and function in outer 2

Writing module 2

space. The Mercury project tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold one person. The Gemini project was intended to find out whether two people could work in the weightless environment of space. Gemini astronauts took "spacewalks." They floated outside their spacecraft in a spacesuit, connected to it by a tether. Gemini astronauts tried out new flying skills. Some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini flights, astronauts physically linked two spacecraft together. Linking, or "space docking," was a major goal of the Gemini program. The Apollo project, with three astronauts, was intended to test spacecraft and skills so that people could actually fly to the Moon and land on it. Performing scientific experiments on the lunar surface and collecting rocks for study on Earth were goals.