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UNIT 2

GLOAL ISSUES
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2.1Exercise:Note-making methods
The development of new media has brought great changes
to our life, you are looking for information on the current
media revolution. Study the text (key points underlined) and
the notes in the box on. Compare the two notes from your
peers and Discuss with your partners which one is better
then write down the essential elements of note-taking.

THE DEATH OF THE PRESS?


A hundred years ago news was exclusively provided by
newspapers. There was no other way of supplying the
latest information on politics, crime, finance or sport to the
millions of people who bought and read newspapers,
sometimes twice a day. Today the situation is very different.
The same news is also available on television, radio and
the internet , and because of the nature of these media, can
be more up-to date than in print. For young people
especially, the internet has become the natural source of
news and comment.
This development means that in many countries
newspaper circulation is falling, and a loss of readers also
means a fall in advertising, which is the main income for
most papers. Consequently, in both Britain and the USA
newspapers are closing every week. But when a local
newspaper goes out of business an important part of the
community is lost. It allows debate on local issues, as well
as providing a noticeboard for events such as weddings
and society meetings.
All newspapers are concerned by these developments,
and many have tried to find methods of increasing their
sales . One approach is to focus on magazine-type articles
rather than news, another is to give free gifts such as DVDs,
while others have developed their own websites to provide
continuous news coverage. However, as so much is now
freely available online to anyone with a web browser, none
of these have had a significant impact on the steady
decline of paid-for newspapers.
(Source: kate,willion, New Business Monthly , May 2013, p.
37)

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Student A:
Decline of newspaper:

a) Newspapers only source of news 100yrs ago-now also


TV, radio + www
b) Newspaper sales >decline in advertising>US and UK
newspaper closing
c) Attempts to attract readers: more magazine content/
free gift/ websites
d) But none very effective

Student B:
The death of the press (kate,willion, new business monthly,
may2013, p.37)

A hundred years ago, news was provided entirely by


newspapers. Television, radio and the Internet have the
same news, this means that the circulation of newspapers
in many countries are falling, losing readers also means
less advertising, and advertising is the main source of
income of most newspapers. As a result, British and
American newspapers are closed every week. All the
newspapers are worried about these developments and
many are trying to find ways to increase sales. One way is
to focus on the type of magazine articles rather than news,
another way is to provide free gifts, such as DVD, and
another way is to develop their own website, to provide
continuous coverage.

Reference: Willion,K (2013), The death of the press, new


business monthly, may, P37

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2.2 SKILLS: USING ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations are an important and expanding
feature of contemporary English, widely used for
convenience and space saving. Students need to be
familiar with general and academic abbreviations.
Abbreviations take the form of shortened words,
acronyms and other abbreviations, as shown below.

Common academic abbreviations

NB 

a) Do not abbreviate too much, or you may find the notes
impossible to understand in the future.
b) Sources should be noted in the same format as they will
appear in your references. 

c) You need to develop your own style for note-making, to suit
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the nature of your subject.
Abbreviations in writing:
While many academic subjects have their own
abbreviations, there are certain abbreviations
common to all types of academic writing. They
include:

2.2.1Explain the abbreviations in the following sentences:


a) The failure rate among ICT projects in HE reaches 40%
(Smith et al. , 2008).
b) GM technology is leading to advances in many fields e.g.
forestry.
c) NB. CVs must be submitted to HRM by June 30th.
d) The city seems to have been destroyed c.2500 BCE.

2.2.2Use abbreviations to short the sentences below:


e) Her main work of Doctor of Philosophy is to examine the
spread of malaria in southeast of Asia.
f) The vice-chancellor is meeting the postgraduate
certificate of education students.
g) Professor Wren asked for the report as soon as possible.

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2.3 Exercise:
You are preparing to write an essay on ‘The impact of
climate on history’. The text below is taken from a book
called Volcanic Disasters by E. B. Pitnam, published in
1993. Underline the relevant points and use the above
techniques to make notes.

One of the greatest explosions in modern history


occurred in 1815, when an Indonesian volcano
called
Mt. Tambora blew up. The eruption involved
about 100 cubic kilometers of material being blown
into the sky, with huge loss of life both on land and sea.
Large quantities of volcanic dust were ejected into the
atmosphere, and this dust gradually spread around the
world, causing alarming events on the other side of
the world.
In New England in north-eastern USA farmers were hit
by bitterly cold weather in June and July 1816. Much of
the harvest was lost due to repeated waves of frost and
snow in the middle of summer. The same pattern was
recorded in Europe, where agriculture was still
suffering the effects of the Napoleonic Wars. In France
wheat prices reached their highest point of the
century in 1817.
As European demand for food rose, prices doubled in
America. Although some profited from the shortages,
others were driven to emigrate into the unexplored
lands to the west. Numbers leaving Vermont, for
example, increased by 100% between 1816 and 1817.

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Paraphrasing involves changing a text so that it is
quite different from the source, while retaining the
meaning. This skill is important in several areas of
academic work. Effective paraphrasing is vital in
academic writing to avoid the risk of plagiarism.

2.4 EXERCISE:
THERE ARE SOME USEFUL SKILLS FOR PARAPHRASING,
DIONG THESE EXERCISES AND SUMMARY WHAT KIND OF
TECHNIQUES YOU CAN USE.

2.4.1 Find synonyms for the words underlined.


(i) The growth of the car industry parallels the development of
modern capitalism.
Example: The rise of the automobile industry matches the progress
of contemporary capitalism.

(ii) The growth of car industruy began in France and Germany, but
took off in the United States.
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

(iii) There Henry Ford adapted the moving production line from the
Chicago meat industry to motor manufacturing, thus inventing mass
production
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
______________________________________________

NB: a)Not all words and phrases can be paraphrased. For example,
economics, socialism or global warming have no effective synonyms.
b)Synonyms are not always exactly the same in meaning, and it is
important not to change the register.
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2.4.2 Change the word class of the underlined words,
and then re-write the sentences.
(i) In the 1920s Alfred Sloan’s management theories helped
General Motors to become the world’s dominant car
company.
Example: In the 1920s, with help from the managerial
theories of Alfred Sloan, General Motors dominated the
world’s car companies.

(ii) After the second world war the car makers focused on
the styling of their products, to encourage more frequent
model changes.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

(iii) From the 1970s there was criticism of the industry due
to the inefficiency of most vehicles, which used petrol
wastefully.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________

2.4.3Change the word order of the following sentences


(other changes may be needed).
(i) At the same time, trades unions became increasingly
militant in defense of their members’ jobs.
Example: At the same time increasingly militant trades
unions defended their members’ jobs.

(ii) Today the industry owns some of the most famous


brands in the world.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
(iii) However, many car makers are currently threatened by
increased competition and saturated markets.
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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2.4.4Combine all these techniques to paraphrase
the paragraph as fully as possible.

The growth of the car industry parallels the


development of modern capitalism. It began in
France and Germany, but took off in the United States.
There Henry Ford adapted the moving production
line from the Chicago meat industry to motor
manufacturing, thus inventing mass production. In the
1920s Alfred Sloan’s management theories helped
General Motors to become the world’s dominant car
company. After the Second World War the industry
developed ‘planned obsolescence’, whereby
frequent model changes encouraged customers to
buy new cars more often than they needed to. Later,
from the 1970s, environmentalists began to criticize
the industry for producing inefficient models which
used too much fuel, contributing to global warming.
At this time, trades unions became increasingly
militant in defense of their members’ jobs. Today the
industry owns some of the strongest brands in the
world. However, many major car companies struggle
with stagnant markets and falling profits.

__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
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2.5 SKILLS:FINDING SYNONYMS:
The exercise above have demonstrated the
importance of synonyms. This section provides
some common synonyms in academic writing
and practice their use.

2.5.1Match the synonyms in each list.

NB: these pairs are commonly synonyms, but not in


very situation.

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2.6 Exercise
Successful paraphrasing is a step by step task
which cannot without note-taking. Look at
paraphrase from Cathy‘s essay(below):

Qoute1:
Gunderman(2012) observe that “ for a day, a
week, or perhaps even a month, we might feel a
bit better as a result of buying ourselves
something. In fact, however, this bump in
happiness is always short lived. Even lottery
winners who hit it really big tend not to be
happier than age-matched controls for more
than a few months, and some actually end up
miserable.”

NOTES:
Short time may feel happier after consuming.
Even lottery winners happier than non-winner,
same age for less than a year, some quite
unhappy after that.

From these notes, we can make a statement:

Consumers may find a sense of happiness for a


short time after buying something for
themselves, but even lottery winners with few
limits to spending find only temporary
happiness in consumerism. In fact, compared to
non-winners of the same age, some become
quite unhappy within the first
year.(Guderman,2012)
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2.6.1 complete the paraphrases.
Quote2 :
Garrard (2012) goes further to say “above a fairly
low level, what seems to matter most is not the
absolute amount of wealth and goods individuals
possess, but how such goods affect their position
relative to others within a given context.
NOTE:
______________________________than________
__________________________________________

Garrad (2012) goes further to say that after essential


needs are met, one’s place in comparison to others
around them seems more______than their _____and
______.

Qoute3:
Research from the USA in 2008(in Dunn et al,2011)
found that “people who devoted more money to
prosocial spending were happier, even after
controlling for their income.”
NOTE:
______________________________After_______
__________________________________________

_____in a USA study in 2008 (in Dunn et al,2011)


reported that regardless of their income level, they
felt a greater sense of _____after buying gifts for
_____and donating to charities than _____who spend
money on themselves.

2.6.2 look again at the paraphrases in 2.6.1. there are


two incorporate the author’s name and date of
publication. What are these two ways?

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2.6.3 look back at Cathy's first draft and help her leave
direct quotes to be paraphrased in this essay, use the
above steps to paraphrase these sections.

Original draft from Cathy's essay:

Because of globalization, people's lives have become


better and better. We can eat pizza from Italy, drive
German cars and using Chinese furniture without
leaving home. Rich material life makes some people
very happy but others become unhappy. Happiness,
instead, has a more intrinsic source and comes from
making stronger connections with others “Given how
deeply and profoundly social we are, it isn’t any
wonder that quality of our social relationships is
strong determinant of our happiness…because of
this, almost anything we do to improve our
connections with others tends to improve our
happiness as well…”(Dune et al,2011) research from
the USA in 2008 found that “people who devoted
more money to prosocial spending were happier,
even after controlling for their income.” Furthermore,
“when participants were contacted that evening,
individuals who had been assigned to spend their
windfall on others were happier than those who had
been assigned to spend the money on themselves.”
(Dune et al,2011). Gunderman (2012) agree, saying
“ getting is ot the most effective, reliable, or efficient
route to happiness and as we have seen, it frequently
produces the opposite effect. Great happiness lies in
service to others, not through getting but by giving.”
To conclude, happiness is essentially intrinsic, and
not determined by any external factors.

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Revised essay:

Because of globalization, people's lives have become


better and better. We can eat pizza from Italy, drive
German cars and using Chinese furniture without
leaving home. Rich material life makes some people
very happy but others become unhappy.
Happiness, instead, has a more intrinsic source and
comes from making stronger connections with others.
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
_________ participants in a USA study in 2008 (in
Dunn et al,2011) reported that regardless of their
income level, they felt a greater sense of happiness
after buying gifts for others and donating to charities
than those who spend money on themselves.
Furthermore,
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
__________________To conclude, happiness is
essentially intrinsic, and not determined by any
external factors.

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Unit 2 Answer Key:

2.1
three elements:
Title, key point and reference

2.2
a)Information and communication technology/higher
education/and others
b)Genetically modified/for example
c)note/curricula vitae/human resource management
d)approximately/before common ear
e)PHD/SE
f)VC/PGCE
g)Prof. Wren/asap.

2.4.1
(2)It started in France and Germany, but accelerated
in the United States.
(3)There Henry Ford modified the moving assembly
line from the Chicago meat industry to car
manufacturing, thereby inventing mass production.
2.4.2
(2) After the Second World War the development of
car makers encouraged customers to buy new cars
more often than they needed to by increasing the
frequency of model changes.
(3) Later, from the 1970s, environmental criticism of
the industry focused on the production of inefficient
models which used too much fuel, contributing to
global warming.
2.4.3
(2) Some of the strongest brands in the world are
today owned by the industry.
(3) Many major car companies, however, struggle
with falling profits and stagnant markets. 16
Unit 2 Answer Key:

2.4.4
(A number of possibilities are acceptable here. These
are suggestions.)
The expansion of contemporary capitalism matches
the rise of the automobile industry. After starting in
Germany and France, it accelerated in the United
States. There the moving assembly line was modified
by Henry Ford from the Chicago meat industry to
manufacturing cars: the invention of mass production.
General Motors dominated the world’s car companies
in the 1920s, with help from the managerial theories
of Alfred Sloan. The development of ‘planned
obsolescence’ by the industry began after the Second
World War, by which the frequency of model changes
encouraged customers to buy new cars more often
than necessary. Environmental criticism of the
industry from the 1970s focused on the contribution to
global warming made by the production of inefficient
models which used too much petrol. At this time
increasingly militant

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Unit 2 Answer Key:

2.5

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