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INTRODUCCIÓN Un propósito fundamental del Plan de Estudios 1999 para la Licenciatura en Educación Secundaria es que los futuros profesores adquieran el hábito de leer, desarrollen la capacidad de comprensión lectora y de valoración crítica de lo que leen, de modo que puedan relacionarlo con la realidad y con la práctica profesional. Esta formación como lectores, sumada a la reflexión que cada normalista realiza sobre su propio proceso, es la base para diseñar estrategias y actividades que guíen a los estudiantes de secundaria. De acuerdo con este planteamiento, y a través del estudio de las asignaturas que incluye el mapa curricular de la especialidad en Lengua extranjera: Inglés, como parte del conjunto de los rasgos del perfil de egreso se pretende propiciar el desarrollo de las habilidades intelectuales y de las competencias didácticas que los alumnos normalistas requieren para utilizar el idioma inglés como medio de comunicación y para poder enseñarlo a los estudiantes de educación secundaria. En los semestres anteriores los estudiantes tuvieron la oportunidad de revisar aspectos relacionados con el aprendizaje de la lengua extranjera, han explorado algunas estrategias para promover en los adolescentes el interés por aprenderla y algunos recursos útiles para tal fin. En este semestre se inicia un estudio más amplio y preciso de las habilidades comunicativas, de los procesos que implican, de los factores que intervienen en ellos y de la función que corresponde asumir al profesor. Una de las habilidades a las que comúnmente se presta escasa atención en las clases de inglés en la escuela secundaria es la comprensión lectora. Tomando en cuenta que en la vida cotidiana los adolescentes tienen acceso a información escrita en inglés a través de distintos medios (folletos, instructivos, etiquetas, revistas, libros, material difundido a través de Internet, entre otros), es indispensable que la escuela contribuya a la formación de habilidades que les permitan usar la lectura como una herramienta para comprender los mensajes escritos y para aprender. La práctica de la lectura en inglés contribuye a la adquisición de vocabulario, a la identificación de las características gramaticales de esta lengua y, además, al desarrollo de otras habilidades, especialmente la escritura. El lenguaje hablado es comúnmente efímero e incompleto, pues la comunicación oral se apoya en otros recursos expresivos y está ubicado en un contexto específico. En cambio, el lenguaje escrito es generalmente claro, completo y permanente; por lo tanto, permite que los estudiantes puedan leer a su propio ritmo y releer lo que no comprendieron. Sin embargo, hay que recordar que, en ocasiones, la permanencia del texto escrito puede inducir a una persona –que no tiene el nivel de inglés requerido para entender un texto– a leer muy lentamente, palabra por palabra y a traducir cada una de ellas. Esto sucede, especialmente, si el lector no puede compensar esa deficiencia usando sus conocimientos previos y algunas estrategias útiles que le ayuden a entender el mensaje. Con frecuencia, este tipo de lectura conduce a problemas en la interpretación del texto, en el interés del lector, y en el desarrollo mismo de la habilidad lectora. Por ello, es fundamental que se tome en cuenta el nivel de inglés de los estudiantes normalistas, sus conocimientos previos, sus intereses y el contexto en que se desenvuelven para la selección de los textos que se trabajarán y las actividades a realizar con ellos. Un mismo documento se puede utilizar con estudiantes de distintos niveles de inglés, dependiendo de las actividades que se diseñen para que los estudiantes puedan comprender su contenido. La realidad indica que el dominio del inglés entre los estudiantes normalistas no es homogéneo; por consiguiente, esta guía no pretende especificar en detalle los textos ni las actividades. Es el maestro de la asignatura quien, conociendo las características de los grupos que atiende, podrá seleccionar y, en su caso, adaptar los textos y las actividades según su situación particular.

PROPÓSITOS GENERALES A través de las actividades que se realicen en este curso, se espera que los estudiantes normalistas • Desarrollen la capacidad de comprensión lectora al utilizar textos escritos en inglés.

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• Comprendan cómo se desarrolla el proceso de lectura de una lengua extranjera, identifiquen los factores que intervienen en él y reconozcan la función del profesor de inglés para favorecerlo en los estudiantes de educación secundaria.

• Conozcan y pongan en práctica algunas estrategias que favorecen la lectura efectiva y eficiente. • Analicen, seleccionen y utilicen textos auténticos que puedan ocupar en el trabajo con alumnos

de secundaria, tomando en cuenta sus características, intereses y conocimientos del idioma inglés.

Para contribuir al logro de estos propósitos, el trabajo durante el curso se desarrollará con base en dos ejes interrelacionados. El primero tiene como finalidad que los estudiantes normalistas desarrollen su propia habilidad de lectura en inglés para aprender permanentemente y acceder a información actualizada respecto a su profesión. El segundo eje tiene como finalidad que adquieran las competencias y actitudes necesarias para crear un ambiente favorable al aprendizaje de los alumnos de secundaria, de acuerdo con los propósitos educativos de este servicio de la educación básica. A través del estudio y las actividades que se realicen durante el curso, los estudiantes normalistas desarrollarán su habilidad de lectura. La reflexión sobre los textos y otras actividades que se lleven a cabo en el salón de clases, favorecerán que los estudiantes adquieran también las competencias que requiere un profesor de secundaria. Además, para que los estudiantes tengan la oportunidad de avanzar en su dominio del inglés en las cuatro habilidades, se propone que las actividades en el aula se realicen usando el inglés como medio de comunicación.

CONTENIDOS Y ORGANIZACIÓN DEL CURSO Para organizar el trabajo que se llevará a cabo durante el semestre, a continuación se proponen algunos temas.

BLOQUE I EL DESARROLLO DE LA CAPACIDAD LECTORA Y

SU FUNCIÓN COMO HERRAMIENTA PERENNE PARA EL APRENDIZAJE PROPÓSITO Desarrollar la habilidad de la lectura, mediante la práctica constante, para aumentar la capacidad de la comprensión lectora. 1. El hábito de la lectura de los estudiantes de lengua inglesa durante y después de su preparación

profesional • Los beneficios permanentes de los estudiantes que tienen la cultura de la lectura

- Culturales - Sociales - Profesionales

• Argumentación de los alumnos que no han adoptado el hábito de leer - Escasez de material de lectura interesante - Falta de tiempo - Otros intereses

2. El conocimiento de las características de una buena lectura

• La lectura efectiva para las actividades posteriores • La lectura eficiente para el favorecimiento de otras habilidades del lenguaje

BIBLIOGRAFÍA BÁSICA • Dixson Robert J. (1950), Modern Short Stories, Nueva York, Regents Publishing Company, Inc.,

18-51.

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• Dozal – Monroy (1963), Our English Book, México, Ed. JUS, pp. 109, 141. • Evans Virginia – Dooley Jenny (1998), Enterprise, Reino Unido, Express Publishing, p. 83. • Grellet Francoise (1981), Developing Reading Skills, Cambridge University Press, pp. 3-13, 28,

29, 54-57, 90, 91, 130, 131, 239-240. • Richards Jack C. and Sandy Chuck (1998), Passages, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,

pp. 9, 22, 30, 65. • Richards Jack C. with Hull Jonathan, Proctor Susan, and Shields Charles (2003), New

Interchange, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 7, 13, 25, 45. • Scott, Foresman (1984), English for a Changing World 3, Glenview, Illinois, Scott, Foresman and

Company, p. 31. • Scott, Foresman (1984), English for a Changing World 4, Glenview, Illinois, Scott, Foresman and

Company, pp. 22, 24, 50, 68, 80, 94,102. • Scott, Foresman (1977), Literature and Integrated Studies, Glenview, Illinois, Scott, Foresman

and Company, pp. 605, 649, 912. • Villafuerte Thomas Laura and Martha E. (1995), English Everywhere 1, México, Ed. Esfinge, pp.

80, 111, 125. • Villafuerte Thomas Laura and Martha E. (1995), English Everywhere 2, México, Ed. Esfinge, pp.

93, 148, 162.

ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS (Nota: Todas estas actividades y las de los siguientes bloques serán cien por ciento en inglés) 1. Plantear las siguientes preguntas a la clase para discutirlas, reflexionarlas y escribir en equipo

un párrafo sobre las conclusiones de las mismas. El maestro apoya a la clase como moderador de las participaciones y auxiliar en lo que se exprese o se pregunte por parte de los alumnos. • ¿Qué importancia tiene el hábito de la lectura en los alumnos de la especialidad de inglés? • ¿Por qué es tan bajo el porcentaje de personas, en México, asiduas a la lectura? • ¿Qué es lo que se requiere para incrementar ese porcentaje? • ¿Cuáles son las diferencias entre una persona que tiene el hábito de la lectura y otra que

prácticamente no lee? 2. Escribir en un papel, en forma individual, tres razones por las cuales no leen en inglés (si es el

caso) los alumnos del grupo. Enseguida se entregan al profesor y las lee en voz alta al tiempo que alumnos voluntarios las escriben en el pizarrón. Analizar y comentar cada uno de los resultados para definir cuáles razones se pueden considerar válidas y cuáles no.

3. Comentar en equipos cómo se logra una lectura efectiva y eficiente. Anotar y compartir al grupo

las conclusiones de cada equipo. El maestro supervisa las participaciones dentro de cada equipo y controla las intervenciones sobre las conclusiones y comentarios que se den en forma individual. Al final, los alumnos toman nota de lo más relevante.

4. Leer en forma individual Reading techniques del libro “Developing Reading Skills” del material de

apoyo (pp. 9-11) y comentar en equipo sobre los beneficios de estas técnicas de lectura. El maestro escucha y valora los comentarios de cada equipo y al final aporta a la clase en general su punto de vista y colabora escribiendo en el pizarrón lo más relevante de las técnicas analizadas.

5. Llevar a cabo una lluvia de ideas para enumerar la gran cantidad de tipos de textos que

podemos leer. Varios alumnos voluntarios (turnándose) escriben su idea en el pizarrón y lo que mencionan los demás compañeros en forma individual. Así, individualmente, los alumnos escriben su propia lista hasta lograr anotar el mayor número de textos posible. El profesor supervisa lo expresado y lo escrito para ayudar a quien se requiera. Entre los principales tipos de textos que se deben mencionar son: short stories, tales, essays, biographies, poems, letters, notes, postcards, newspapers, magazines, novels, articles, brochures, catalogues, textbooks, classified ads, advertisements, instructions, signs, menus, recipes, directions, notices, etc.

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6. Comentar en equipo cuáles son los beneficios que obtienen los estudiantes que son asiduos a la lectura para, enseguida, compartir los puntos de vista de cada uno de los equipos a la clase en general. El maestro supervisa y apoya a los equipos en sus participaciones internas para luego moderar las participaciones de los mismos para todo el grupo. Entre los beneficios que se deben mencionar (además de otros) se encuentran los personales, culturales, sociales y profesionales.

7. Llevar a cabo, en grupo, un debate sobre cuáles son los temas de más interés (de mayor a

menor) para los alumnos de educación secundaria de la actualidad, para después elaborar una lista de estos y seleccionar material de ese tipo para las clases de inglés en secundaria. Los alumnos participantes deben mencionar qué tema y el por qué lo considera de interés para los alumnos de secundaria.

El profesor modera las intervenciones y anota en el pizarrón todos los temas que se mencionen, para ordenarlos, de mayor a menor interés, de acuerdo a los resultados del debate. Algunos de los temas que deben mencionarse son: sports, movie stars, music, singers, movies, trips, vacation, clothes, etc.

BLOQUE II LOS ELEMENTOS INDISPENSABLES DE LA COMPRENSIÓN DE LA LECTURA PARA EL APRENDIZAJE DE LA LENGUA EXTRANJERA

PROPÓSITO Analizar los factores del proceso de lectura para que por medio de la diversidad de textos se favorezca el aprendizaje del procedimiento correcto para la comprensión lectora. 1. Los factores del proceso de lectura en lengua inglesa

• El lector - El nivel de conocimiento - Las dificultades más comunes para la comprensión

• El texto - El nivel de dificultad de las estructuras gramaticales y expresiones idiomáticas - El vocabulario - Relación directa con la adquisición de vocabulario - Relación directa con el aprendizaje de las estructuras gramaticales

2. La diversidad de textos y su aprovechamiento educativo en el aula

• La utilidad de los textos informales - Notas, postales, cartas, recetas

• La disponibilidad de los periódicos y revistas - Noticias - Encabezados - Artículos - Editoriales - Anuncios clasificados

• Otros tipos de textos - Catálogos, folletos, instrucciones, etiquetas, señalamientos y menús.

• La riqueza de los textos literarios - Historias - Cuentos - Ensayos - Poemas - Biografías

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BIBLIOGRAFÍA BÁSICA • Dixson Robert J. (1950), Modern Short Stories, Nueva York, Regents Publishing Company, Inc.,

pp. 18-51. • Grellet Francoise (1981), Developing Reading Skills, Cambridge University Press, pp. 3, 4. • Richards Jack C. and Sandy Chuck (1998), Passages, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,

pp. 9, 22, 30, 65. • Scott, Foresman (1977), Literature and Integrated Studies, Glenview, Illinois, Scott, Foresman

and Company, pp. 605, 649, 912. ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS 1. Leer en equipo Reading and reading comprehension del libro “Developing Reading Skills”

(material de apoyo, pp. 3-7) y escribir por equipo diez enunciados, mencionando lo más importante de la lectura. Cada equipo lee al grupo su resumen de ideas.

El maestro asiste a los alumnos cuando sea necesario y aporta su punto de vista cuando lo considere conveniente.

2. Leer individualmente How the aim is conveyed , Understanding the meaning y Assessing the

text del libro “Developing Reading Skills” (pp. 12-14) para comentar en equipo los aspectos más relevantes de cada uno de los tres temas. Enseguida cada equipo comenta a la clase lo que considere más importante. El profesor apoya en lo necesario a cada equipo y se mantiene atento a las participaciones para auxiliar en lo que se requiera.

3. Comentar en equipos las diferentes formas de aprender de los alumnos de secundaria para

entender como profesores de los mismos que cada individuo aprende de un modo particular. Cada equipo escribe en el pizarrón cinco formas de aprendizaje para discutirlas todo el grupo y ver diferencias y semejanzas entre las ideas de todos.

Se sugiere apoyarse leyendo el contenido del anexo del Programa (p. 12). El maestro modera las participaciones de los equipos; si es necesario, ayuda con lo escrito por los alumnos en el pizarrón y aporta su punto de vista sobre las mejores ideas expresadas por los alumnos.

4. Analizar y aprender la pronunciación correcta de los verbos regulares en tiempo pasado ( /d/,

/t/, y /Id/ ) para saber responder a las dudas de los alumnos de secundaria con respecto a estas tres diferentes formas de pronunciación en las que la mayoría de los alumnos e incluso algunos maestros no tienen el conocimiento de cuando se usa uno u otro al encontrarlos en una lectura.

En forma individual se produce cada sonido de las letras del abecedario tocándose la garganta con la mano para notar con cuáles letras se produce vibración de las cuerdas vocales y con cuáles no. Las que produzcan vibración serán voiced y las que no lo hagan serán voiceless. Así pues, se pronunciará /d/ después de voiced sounds (played, lived, seemed, etc.); /t/ después de voiceless sounds (walked, washed, etc.); y /Id/ en casos especiales de voiceless sounds (naked). El maestro explica y apoya a los alumnos para que identifiquen las diferencias entre los sonidos y anota en el pizarrón la trascripción fonética de los mismos para su mejor comprensión. Asimismo, solicita participaciones individuales para cerciorarse que se logró el objetivo de reconocer los voiced sounds y los voiceless sounds.

5. Formar cinco equipos de cuatro alumnos cada uno y distribuirles los nombres de cuatro tipos de

texto, de los mencionados en este bloque, a cada equipo, para que busquen por su cuenta los textos y los presenten en una exposición (en forma de clase de inglés en secundaria) frente al grupo, utilizando actividades y estrategias de lectura en cada uno de los textos. Las actividades pueden ser libres, de acuerdo a la creatividad de los alumnos. Las estrategias pueden ser las que se mencionan en el número nueve de las actividades del bloque tres.

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Al final, y fuera de la supuesta clase de inglés en secundaria, cada equipo debe leer y presentar las características de los textos asignados y posteriormente responder a preguntas sobre los mismos, del grupo en general. Algunas de las características principales que deben mencionarse (según el tipo de texto) son: Structure (formal or informal), greeting, development, title, topic sentence, farewell, conclusion, etc. El profesor debe, en este caso, permitir que la clase presentada por los alumnos tome su curso y no interferir sino hasta el final de ésta. Asimismo, debe tomar nota de las posibles recomendaciones que deba hacer a cada uno de los integrantes de los equipos, con el propósito de que mejoren su desempeño como futuros profesores de inglés.

BLOQUE III EL CONOCIMIENTO Y LA PRÁCTICA DE LAS

ESTRATEGIAS PARA LA COMPRENSIÓN DE LA LECTURA PROPÓSITO Conocer y practicar las diferentes estrategias de lectura, seleccionando y analizando textos auténticos, para mejorar la comprensión lectora como importante competencia lingüística. 1. La diversidad de las estrategias de la comprensión de la lectura

• El favorecimiento de la lectura comprensiva por medio de la creatividad 2. La planeación de las actividades en el desarrollo de las lecturas

• Actividades antes, durante y después de las lecturas • El desarrollo en inglés de las actividades en el aula

BIBLIOGRAFÍA BÁSICA • Dixon J. Robert (1971), Modern Short Stories, Regents Publishing Company, Inc., pp. 18-51. • Dozal – Monroy (1963), Our English Book, México, Ed. JUS., pp. 108, 109, 140, 141. • Evans Virginia – Dooley Jenny (1998), Enterprise, Reino Unido, Express Publishing, p. 83. • Grellet Francoise (1981), Developing Reading Skills, Cambridge University Press, pp. 4-11. • Richards Jack C. and Sandy Chuck (1998), Passages, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,

pp. 9, 22, 30, 65. • Richards Jack C. with Hull Jonathan, Proctor Susan, and Shields Charles (2003), New

Interchange, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, pp. 7, 13, 25, 45. • Scott, Foresman ((1977), Literature and Integrated Studies, Glenview, Illinois, Scott, Foresman

and Company, pp. 605, 649, 912. ACTIVIDADES SUGERIDAS 1. En equipo, predecir de qué tratará un artículo (de revista, periódico o libro de texto) con

únicamente leer el título y comentarlo para comparar las ideas de cada quien al final de la lectura. En el transcurso de ésta, individualmente se deben subrayar las palabras desconocidas y se intenta adivinar su significado de acuerdo al contexto. Al mismo tiempo se pueden identificar datos específicos (nombres, fechas, lugares, hechos, etc.) y finalmente distinguir la información relevante e irrelevante. Al término de la lectura se analiza lo que se predijo, subrayó, adivino y distinguió, para ver similitudes y diferencias entre los integrantes del equipo.

El maestro auxilia a la clase en todo lo necesario y solicita que un alumno voluntario escriba en el pizarrón las similitudes de los resultados de las estrategias. A continuación pide a otro alumno que escriba lo que sea diferente entre las participaciones y responde a las dudas que aún tengan los estudiantes.

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2. Leer una historia en forma individual llevando a cabo las siguientes estrategias para la

comprensión de la lectura:

• Subrayar las palabras clave • Identificar las ideas principales • Distinguir información importante y sin importancia • Suponer qué es lo que sucederá en el relato después de leer algunos párrafos, capítulos y

antes del final. • Contestar preguntas sobre el texto

Después de realizar en forma individual las estrategias de lectura anteriores, se deben discutir en equipo y registrar las ideas en común, para luego comentarlas a la clase en general y escribir en el pizarrón los puntos más similares entre todos los equipos. El profesor realiza con los alumnos paso a paso las estrategias de lectura e inspecciona el trabajo de equipo respondiendo a posibles preguntas. Enseguida controla el orden en las participaciones de los equipos y escribe en el pizarrón los resultados de las opiniones para compararlos y contrastarlos. Finalmente formula preguntas a los alumnos en general para discutirlas y comprender mejor la historia leída.

3. Leer diálogos entre dos o tres alumnos en voz alta, y al final de éstos el maestro debe formular

preguntas sobre su contenido al grupo. Asimismo, cuestionar por qué se está de acuerdo o no con lo que se desarrolla en el diálogo.

4. Hacer una lectura en forma individual que, al final y en forma independiente, contenga

afirmaciones que se deben marcar como falsas o verdaderas para cerciorarse de la buena comprensión de la lectura de todos los alumnos.

El profesor solicita a diferentes alumnos que participen leyendo y dando la respuesta a los enunciados que se les indique y si es necesario explica las dudas que se presenten para que quede clara la comprensión del texto.

5. Leer y comparar individualmente la información de dos o más escritos breves y, en parejas,

escribir al final las afinidades entre uno y otro. Como segundo paso se pide a los alumnos contrastar y registrar en forma escrita las diferencias que se presentan entre los textos. El tercer paso es comentar en equipos de seis alumnos las similitudes y diferencias de los dos o más textos breves.

El maestro permite que los alumnos desarrollen la lectura en silencio y brinda apoyo a quienes lo soliciten. Reitera la importancia de que toda la información que se comparta en parejas o equipos sea sólo en inglés. Al final se registran en el pizarrón las comparaciones y los contrastes de las lecturas realizadas.

6. Identificar las intenciones o actitud del autor en ensayos o poemas, leyendo individualmente,

para desarrollar la comprensión de la lectura entre líneas.

El profesor les pide a los estudiantes compartir sus opiniones con todo el grupo y que mencionen por qué creen lo que comentan a la clase; modera las participaciones y proporciona ayuda cuando se le solicita.

7. Leer al mismo tiempo (el grupo en silencio y un alumno en voz alta) textos en los cuales se dé

información extra para relacionar, por ejemplo, datos específicos, títulos o encabezados, ideas, etcétera, con las lecturas realizadas.

El maestro lee en silencio junto con el grupo y ayuda con la pronunciación y el vocabulario desconocido si se le solicita. Si no hay más dudas se les indica a los alumnos que continúen con los ejercicios para relacionar información y después de eso los alumnos analizan y comparan los resultados en equipo. Finalmente se revisa que las respuestas sean las correctas

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Se sugieren como ejemplo las lecturas Tell me About Argentina (p. 21), What is AIDS (p. 26), The Second World War (p. 27), Endangered Species (p. 28) y “Nutty”news (p. 68) del material de apoyo.

8. Leer una historia en forma individual practicando las estrategias de lectura para comprender y explicar el mensaje global de lo escrito. Hecho lo anterior, se pueden elaborar juicios y argumentos sobre la información obtenida para discutirse en forma de mesa redonda en la que intervengan todos los alumnos.

El profesor formula diferentes preguntas sobre la historia a los alumnos y los cuestiona del por qué creen lo que mencionan, dándoles varias oportunidades de participar y apoyándolos en lo que se requiera para que puedan expresarse lo mejor posible.

9. Practicar las estrategias de la lectura constantemente hasta alcanzar un avance significativo en

la comprensión de la lectura, y así, con esta práctica y el hábito de la lectura, lograr un entendimiento rápido, efectivo y eficiente de lo que se lee. Además de otras, se pueden utilizar las siguientes estrategias:

• Predecir de que tratará el texto con únicamente leer el título • Subrayar palabras desconocidas • Subrayar palabras clave • Definir hechos como falsos o verdaderos • Localizar datos específicos (nombres, lugares, fechas, hechos, etc.) • Identificar las ideas principales • Adivinar significados de palabras y frases por el contexto • Identificar las intenciones o actitud del autor • Distinguir información relevante e irrelevante • Relacionar datos extras con la lectura • Contestar preguntas sobre el texto • Responder por qué se está o no de acuerdo con lo que se plasma en el escrito • Discutir preguntas sobre la lectura y compartirlas con los compañeros • Comparar dos o tres escritos similares • Contrastar dos o tres escritos parecidos • Relacionar encabezados con artículos • Comprender y explicar el mensaje global de los textos • Elaborar juicios y argumentos con la información obtenida de los textos • Predecir de que tratará el cuento o la historia con sólo ver el título y las ilustraciones • Suponer qué es lo que sucederá en el relato después de leer algunos párrafos, capítulos o

antes del final BIBLIOGRAFÍA QUE SE SUGIERE REVISAR, SEGÚN LOS TEMAS PROPUESTOS • Davies, P. and E. Pearse (2000), Success in English Teaching, Oxford University Press

Mcdonough. • J. and C. Shaw (1993), Materials and Method in ELT, Blackwell. • Nuttal, C. (1996), Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language (New edition), Heinemann. • Wallace, C. (1992), Reading, Oxford University Press. • Carrel P., Devine and E. Eskey (ed.), Interactive Processes to Second Language Reading,

Cambridge University Press. • Ellis, G. and B. Sinclair (1989), Learning to Learn English, Cambridge University Press. • Harmer, J. (1992), The Practice of English Language Teaching, Longman. • Hierro García, M. et al. (1995), Libro para el Maestro: Inglés, SEP. • Willis, J. (1981), Teaching English Through English, Longman. • Lowes, R. and F. Target (1998), Helping Students to Learn, Richmond. • Aebersold, J. and M. Field (1998), From Reader to Reading Teacher (New edition), Cambridge

University Press. • Tice, J. (1997), The Mixed Abilty Class, Richmond Publishing.

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ORIENTACIONES DIDÁCTICAS El tratamiento de los temas propuestos en esta guía combina actividades de estudio y análisis sobre el proceso de lectura comprensiva, con el trabajo práctico de selección y aplicación de estrategias que la favorecen. Por esta razón, es importante que el profesor promueva, a través de las formas de trabajo, la aplicación de las estrategias personales, de esta manera podrán reflexionar sobre ella, adquirirán mayores conocimientos y desarrollarán las habilidades y la sensibilidad requeridas para el desarrollo como futuros profesores. En el salón se deben crear las oportunidades para poner en práctica todas las estrategias que se pueden utilizar para la comprensión de lectura. Sin embargo, los estudiantes deben realizar tareas fuera del aula para aprender a utilizar la biblioteca y, si es posible, la Internet. Estas tareas deben promover el autoaprendizaje e incentivar al estudiante a que utilice las estrategias de lectura que está desarrollando. Para ello, se debe fomentar la reflexión respecto a los estilos de aprendizaje de cada estudiante y las estrategias que utiliza para leer un texto. Las observaciones de clases a nivel secundaria que realicen los estudiantes (Observación y Práctica Docente II), sus reflexiones individuales y en grupo respecto a sus procesos de lectura y las reflexiones de otros, los conocimientos y habilidades que van adquiriendo, los materiales empleados y las actividades que se están realizando en el curso los apoyarán en el desarrollo de sus habilidades docentes. El maestro de esta asignatura deberá diseñar su propio plan de trabajo considerando las necesidades e intereses de sus estudiantes, los objetivos generales propuestos en esta guía y los acuerdos entre la academia de la especialidad y los directivos del plantel. En este caso en particular, los maestros de las asignaturas Inglés II, Literatura I, Observación y Práctica Docente II y Estrategias y Recursos I. Comprensión de la Lectura podrán realizar un diagnóstico conjunto respecto al nivel de dominio del inglés de los estudiantes y a partir de él elaborar y analizar sus respectivos planes de trabajo. De esta manera se evitarán reiteraciones innecesarias y se podrán programar actividades conjuntas o complementarias que sirvan para varias materias. El maestro titular de la asignatura, de acuerdo con su experiencia y conocimiento de los estudiantes podrá elegir entre los textos propuestos en la bibliografía o incluir otros, siempre que los estudiantes puedan acceder a ellos fácilmente. Más aún, en esta guía se proponen algunos tipos de actividades (Anexo 1) que serán útiles para el desarrollo de las clases. En este caso también es el maestro quien decide, selecciona y adapta las actividades según la situación del grupo. Los textos que se proponen para este curso están relacionados con la lectura. Se plantea que los estudiantes normalistas realicen diversas actividades antes, durante y después de la lectura del texto, tal como se recomienda para la enseñanza de la comprensión de lectura en sí. Esto les brindará la oportunidad de aprender haciendo y reflexionar posteriormente respecto a lo que se hizo. La modalidad de taller se ajusta a los propósitos y a las características generales de esta asignatura. A través de la interacción con sus compañeros y de sus propias reflexiones, los estudiantes aprenderán acerca de la lectura en lengua extranjera y continuarán desarrollando y fortaleciendo las competencias y actitudes necesarias para ser profesores de adolescentes. Además, esta modalidad propicia la práctica del inglés que debe darse en todas las asignaturas de la especialidad para que el futuro profesor adquiera la confianza que se requiere para conducir una clase en inglés. En este semestre los estudiantes realizarán dos jornadas de observación y práctica docente en la escuela secundaria. En la asignatura Estrategias y Recursos. Comprensión de la Lectura, al igual que en Inglés II y en Literatura en Lengua Inglesa I, los estudiantes prepararán las actividades que, en relación con los contenidos del curso, llevarán a cabo en los grupos de educación secundaria con los cuales practicarán. Por esta razón, es indispensable el trabajo coordinado entre los profesores que imparten las asignaturas de especialidad.

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Es necesario que el profesor organice su tiempo y acuda a la escuela secundaria a observar el trabajo de sus alumnos. De esta manera, tendrá elementos e información suficiente para orientar a los estudiantes y ayudarlos a identificar en qué aspectos requieren fortalecer su preparación.

EVALUACIÓN La evaluación debe abarcar los dos ejes: el desarrollo de la habilidad lectora en los estudiantes y las competencias didácticas como futuros profesores de inglés. Al inicio del semestre, el maestro podrá acordar con los alumnos los criterios y procedimientos de evaluación que regirán durante el curso. Es conveniente que la evaluación sea continua y se promueva la autoevaluación; de este modo, se podrán tomar en cuenta las condiciones reales en que los estudiantes iniciaron el curso, sus estilos de aprendizaje y las actitudes que manifiestan hacia el trabajo que se realiza. Los criterios que se establezcan o acuerden para llevar a cabo la evaluación deben ser congruentes con los propósitos del curso y las formas de trabajo que se utilizan, para tener elementos que permitan apreciar si los alumnos normalistas:

• Comprenden y explican el mensaje global de los textos que leen. • Buscan y encuentran información específica en fuentes diversas. • Distinguen información relevante e irrelevante. • Usan la información obtenida para elaborar juicios y argumentos. • Aplican creativamente –como parte de su propia formación y en la práctica educativa con los

alumnos de secundaria– las estrategias didácticas que son analizadas en el curso, para favorecer la lectura comprensiva.

En cuanto a la evaluación de la capacidad del estudiante para favorecer la comprensión de lectura, los estudiantes pueden elaborar dos o tres trabajos durante el curso en los que seleccionen, y en su caso adapten, un texto para un grupo específico de secundaria, elaboren una serie de actividades alrededor del texto, y un plan de clase. De acuerdo con los criterios sugeridos y el enfoque de la asignatura, no es indispensable un examen final, pero en caso de considerarlo necesario, éste se deberá diseñar tomando en cuenta las actividades que se realizaron durante el curso.

COMENTARIOS FINALES La asignatura Estrategias y Recursos I. Comprensión de la Lectura, como ya se mencionó anteriormente, tiene dos propósitos principales. El primero, que los estudiantes normalistas desarrollen su comprensión de lectura en inglés y el segundo que adquieran las competencias y actitudes necesarias para motivar y ayudar a sus futuros alumnos para que éstos a su vez desarrollen su habilidad de lectura en la lengua inglesa. Para alcanzar estos propósitos, se requiere que los estudiantes acudan a la biblioteca y aprovechen las oportunidades posibles para usar otros recursos (como internet) y practicar lo que están aprendiendo. Se pretende, además, que los estudiantes normalistas integren sus conocimientos y desarrollen sus habilidades docentes por medio de la reflexión respecto a su experiencia como estudiantes y a las observaciones de clases que realicen.

ANEXO Ejemplos de actividades y recursos didácticos Reading 1

Pre-reading In small groups, discuss the following quotation.

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Reading is like an infectious disease: it is caught not taught (and you don'tcatch it from someone who hasn't got it). Cristine Nutall (1983:192)

Read the following excerpts from the book From Reader to Reading Teacher (Aebersold J. and Field M., 1998, pp. 1-2). As a reader you bring a certain amount of knowledge to the task of reading this text book. You have the ability to read in your native language, and you have knowledge about what reading is, even though you may no longer be conscious of what you do when you read or how you learned to read. In addition, you have been a student in classes where a teacher helped you to learn how to read. Perhaps you have experienced learning to read in a language that is not your native or dominant language. You may even teach reading-either in the students' native language (L1) or in their second or foreign language (L2/FL). If you have taught other to read you will bring a teacher's insight to this text. All of your experience informs the perspective from which you approach the information in this book.

While-reading Stop and think. What do you know about reading? Have you taughtreading in Spanish? Match the acronyms on the left with their meanings on the right. Write theletters on the lines 1. L1 _____ a. foreign language 2. L2 _____ b. native language 3. FL _____ c. second language Continue reading.

…Your experience and your knowledge are your primary source of information and this book attempts to show how you can use these sources. Other, external, sources of information highlighted in this book include our experience and expertise, developed during the years we have read, studied and taught; the knowledge of our classmates, and teacher in the class where you are using this book; the students and teachers you observe at work in other L2/FL classrooms; and the books, journals, and other publications that focus on learning and teaching reading in the L2/FL… Given these various sources, we see learning as a circular rather than a linear process that repeatedly engages new information until it becomes internalised. This process can be envisioned as a learning spiral (Figure 1) that represents the recursive development of learning. For example, as a reader of a book, you will move from step 1 through step 7 using various information sources then you will begin the process again, analysing and evaluating your knowledge base in light of your new experience. The only difference is that each time you begin you will be starting from a greater base of knowledge. Each time you return to step 7, you will be working with a more informed and richer context when you make decisions about your teaching. We have used the image of the learning spiral because it includes the elements of growth, synthesis, incremental development, and an internal knowledge base. The teacher who understands this process will be well prepared to use the same process as a guide to teaching students.

While-reading Guess the meaning of each underlined word and discuss it with aclassmate. 1. ….we see learning as a circular rather than a linear process thatrepeatedly engages new information until it becomes internalised.

2. This process can be envisioned as a learning spiral (Figure 1) thatrepresents the recursive development of learning.

3. For example, as a reader of a book, you will move from step 1 throughstep 7 using various information sources then you will begin the process

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again, analysing and evaluating your knowledge base in light of your newexperience.

Post-reading In small groups discuss the title of the book, From Teacher to ReadingTeacher.

Reading 2

Pre-reading Activity 1. Think about what you do when reading in English. Compare your ideaswith your classmates.

Read the following excerpt from the book From Reader to Reading Teacher (Aebersold J. and Field M., 1998, 16). What do successful readers do, consciously or unconsciously, that enables them to comprehend a text well? 1. Recognise words quickly. 2. Use text features (subheadings, transitions. etc.). 3. Use title (s) to infer what information might follow. 4. Use world knowledge. 5. Analyse familiar words. 6. Identify the grammatical function of words. 7. Read for meaning, concentrate on constructing meaning. 8. Guess about the meaning of the text. 9. Evaluate guesses and try new guesses if necessary. 10. Monitor comprehension. 11. Keep the purpose for reading the text in mind. 12. Adjust strategies to the purpose of the reading. 13. Identify or infer main ideas. 14. Understand the relationship between the parts of a text. 15. Distinguish main ideas for minor ideas. 16. Tolerate ambiguity in a text ( at least temporarily). 17. Paraphrase. 18. Use context to build meaning and aid comprehension. 19. Continue reading even when unsuccessful, at least for a while. (Anderson et al., 1991; Barnett, 1989; Clarke, 1979)

Post- reading 1. After reading the text, write down the number of all the strategies you use when you read inEnglish. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 2. Now, write down three of the strategies mentioned above that you would like to start using. _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________

Reading 3

Pre- reading As a language learner, you have worked with a variety of readingactivities. What type of activities did you like best?

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As you read the following excerpt from Success in English Teaching (Davies and Pearse, 2000, pp. 92-93), think about the factors you have to take into account when selecting and adapting texts. Reading Activities As we have said, reading has much in common with listening, in many aspects of the teaching of reading comprehension are similar to the teaching of listening comprehension. For example, the selection of texts is just as important. They should as far as possible be what the learners might really want or need to read. Many course books nowadays contain potentially interesting reading texts… But you still need to be prepared to find alternatives to texts which are of little interest and are really trying to give practice in grammar not reading comprehension… it's relatively easy to substitute or supplement the reading material in your coursebook with authentic material from magazines, newspapers, holiday brochures and books. You may need to simplify such material for lower level classes, and you will need to design suitable activities and exercises. The text is only one element in a reading activity. As in listening comprehension practice, three stages are generally recommended to make reading more realistic and interesting. Pre-reading This stage is to prepare the learners for what they are going to read, just as we are usually prepared in real life. While-reading This stage is to help the learners understand the text. They may first do an easy scanning or skimming task, and then a task requiring more thorough comprehension and with listening. You should help your learner understand the text rather than just testing their comprehension the whole time. Post-reading This stage is to help the learners to connect what they have read with their own ideas and experience, just as we often do in real life and perhaps to move fluently from reading to another classroom activity. Teaching Ideas Pre-reading: Guess the topic of the text from the headings, illustrations etc. Brainstorm around a topic word on the board, for example, "sharks". Predict what the text will say. Write questions that may be answered by the text. While-reading: Scan for two or four items of information. Skim for the general idea. Answer questions. Complete sentences. Complete table, map, or picture. Ask each other questions. Post-reading Discuss what was interesting or new in the text. Discuss or debate the topic of the text if it is controversial. Do tasks on the language or structure of the text. Summarise the text either orally or in writing.

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Post-reading activity 1. Choose a reading task in a course book used in "secundarias". Do youthink adolescents would find the text and the activities interesting?2. Analyse the activities that go with the text. Does it have pre-reading,while-reading and post-reading activities?

Reading 4

Pre-reading How do you prefer to learn? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Read the following excerpt from The Mixed Ability Class (Tice, 1997, pp. 22-23). What different kinds of learners are there? If students enjoy their English lessons, this can provide powerful motivation. Ensuring that lessons are well paced and contain different kinds of activity will keep students interested. It is also important that you cater for different kinds of learner. Learners have different learning styles and preferences; if you cater only for one type of learner, then the others will fall behind. The important point here is variety in terms of your approach to learning activities. There is no simple answer to this; but research has shown people do learn in different ways. Different types of learner have been identified according to which sense they seem to favour for learning and remembering.

While-reading 1. Think about the different kinds of learners you have met, and in a small group, discussabout the ways each one of you learns best. ____________________________________________________________________________

Visual learners Visual learners like to have visual clues. For example, they prefer reading instructions to listening to them because they understand and remember them better, and they prefer looking at their coursebook to listening to explanations. Auditory learners Auditory learners learn and remember better when they listen. Thus they prefer the teacher to give oral instructions and they remember they have listened to more easily than things they have read. Kinaesthetic learners Kinaesthetic learners prefer to learn by doing or by experience. They prefer demonstration to written or verbal explanations. They will learn better by being actively involved in a task, by acting, drawing or making something. Other explanations of learning styles focus on how students like to learn.

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Group learners These learners remember more and work more efficiently when they work with other people. Concrete learners Concrete learners like visual and verbal experiences and they dislike routine learning and written work. They like to be entertained and physically involved, they want and immediate, varied and lively learning experiences. Analytic learners Analytic learners are independent learners who like problem solving and working out things for themselves. They like new learning material to be presented systematically and logically and they like to follow up on their own. They are serious and hardworking, and are badly affected by failure. Communicative learners Communicative learners like a social approach to learning. They learn well from discussion and group activities, and need personal feedback and interaction. They get on best in a democratically running class. Authority oriented Authority oriented learners relate well to a traditional classroom, preferring the teacher as an authority figure. They like clear instructions and they need structure and logical progression in what they learn.

Post-reading activity After reading the text, reflect on your learning style. Write about the way you like tolearn. ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

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MATERIAL

DE

APOYO

18

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a) Look at the pictures on this page.

Which shows: heavy traffic; a museum; a street performer; handprints of film stars; a Mexican dish; designer clothes; a club?

b) Read the article and answer the questions.

1 Where can you stay in LA? What is special about these places.

2 Which places can you visit? What can you see there?

3 Where can you eat? What is special about each place?

4 Where can you go shopping? What can you buy there?

5 Where can you go in the evening? What can you do there?

c) Replace the article’s sub-headings

with the ones in the list: Nightlife – Restaurants – Shops – Hotels - Sights

READING

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LESSON XX THOMAS ALVA EDISON (1847-1931) This man is a notable scientist and great inventor, a genius that all the world. His inventions number over a thousand. As a boy, Edison has to work in many occupations, but he always has time to study and to experiment, looking for new ideas to construct something useful. He does not have the advantage of a formal education, but when he is a man, be receives many honors and degrees from famous universities. His invention number one is the electric light. The phonograph and the moving pictures, which he helps to develop, are only a few of his contributions that the world now enjoys. For his talent and ability to invent and produce useful things, his country men think of Thomas Alva Edison as a magician. This notable man does not use his talent to make himself rich. He invents and constructs new things for the benefit of the people. He works hard, day and night. The activity and dedication of this inventor can be expressed by the saying: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninty-nine percent spiration.” Comprehension Encuentre las oraciones que expresen verdades:

1. Edison is not an inventor.

2. He invents many things. 3. Edison has a formal education. 4. He doesn’t construct useful things. 5. This scientist receives many honors. 6. He is a great writer. 7. Edison does not invent the electric

light. 8. This inventor helps to develop the

phonograph. 9. The things that this scientist invents

make him very rich. 10. The world likes all his inventions. 11. All inventions are for the benefit of

the inventor. 12. All inventors are magicians. 13. Our work is one percent perspiration. 14. All people have a formal education.

Lesson XV BENJAMIN FRANKLIN (1706-1790) Benjamin Franklin is a patriot, writer and scientist and above all, a famous American citizen. As a patriot, he dedicates his political life completely to the formation of his country as an independent nation. He signs the Declaration of Independence and helps to write the constitution that rules the life of the United States. As a writer he is the author of many short stories and clever sayings. He is also the

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founder of a public library and the University of Philadelphia, and begins a very important publication, “The Saturday Evening Post” that we still read today after a hundred and fifty years. As a scientist he discovers the cause of lightning which we see during thunderstorms. We all remember Benjamin Franklin as an unusual statesman, a man of knowledge, and as a scientist of exceptional talent. He is author of the popular saying. “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. Comprehension Diga si estas oraciones son ciertas o no: 1. Franklin is also a famous writer. 2. He signs the Declaration of

Independence. 3. Many men are scientist. 4. Not all men are patriots. 5. We have a construction. 6. All the nations have an independence

day. 7. Our school has a good library. 8. All writers have exceptional talent. 9. People who go to bed early are healthy. 10. Short stories have clever sayings. 11. The Saturday Evening Post is a good

publication. 12. All men are not wise. 13. We don’t have a public library.

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A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO READING

COMPREHENSION EXERCISES

Francoise Grellet Introduction

Reading and reading comprehension Whats is reading comprehension? Understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible. For example, we apply different reading strategies when looking at a notice board to see if there is an advertisement for a particular type of flat and when carefully reading an article of special interest in a scientific journal. Yet locating the relevant advertisement on the board and understanding the new information contained in the article demonstrates that the reading purpose in each case has been successfully fulfilled. In the first case, it is not enough to understand the gist of the text; more detailed comprehension is necessary. It is therefore essential to take the following elements into consideration. What do we read? Here are the main text-types one usually comes across: - Novels, short stories, tales; other literary

texts and passages (e.g. essays, diaries, anecdotes, biographies).

- Plays. - Poems, limericks, nursery rhymes. - Letters, postcards, telegrams, notes. - Newspapers and magazines (headlines,

articles, editorials, letters to the editor, stop press, classified ads, weather forecast, radio / TV / theatre programmes).

- Specialized articles, reports, reviews, essays, business letters, summaries, précis, accounts, pamphlets (political an other).

- Handbooks, textbooks, guidebooks. - Recipes. - Advertisements, travel brochures,

catalogues. - Puzzles, problems, rules for games.

- Instructions (e.g. warnings), directions (e.g. How to use…), notices, rules and regulations, posters signs (e.g. road signs), forms (e.g. application forms, landing cards), graffiti, menus, price lists, tickets.

- Comte strips, cartoons and caricatures, legends (of maps, pictures).

- Statistics, diagrams, flow / pie charts, time-tables, maps.

- Telephone directories, dictionaries, phrasebooks.

Why do we mad? There are two main reasons for reading: - Reading for pleasure. - Reading for information (in order to find out

something or in order to do something with the information you get).

How do we read? The main ways of reading are as follows: - Skimming: quickly running one’s eyes over

a text to get the fist of it. - Scanning: quickly going through a ext to

find a particular piece of information. - Extensive reading: reading longer texts,

usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity, mainly involving global understanding.

- Intensive reading: reading shorter texts, to extract specific information. This is more an accuracy activity involving reading for detail.

These different ways of reading are not mutually exclusive. For instance, one often skims through a passage to see what it is about before deciding whether it is worth scanning a particular paragraph for the information ones is looking for. In real life, our reading purposes constantly vary and therefore, when devising exercises, we should vary the questions and the activities according to the type of text studied and the purpose in reading it. When working on a page of classified ads, for instance, it would be highly artificial to propose exercises requiring the detailed comprehension of every single advertisement. This would only discourage the students and prevent them

DEVELOPING READING SKILLS

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from developing reading strategies adapted to the true purpose of their reading. Reading involves a variety of skills. The main ones are listed below. (This list is taken from John Munby’s Communicative Syllabus Design.) - Recognizing the script of a language. - Deducing the meaning and use of

unfamiliar lexical items. - Understanding explicitly stated information. - Understanding conceptual meaning. - Understanding the communicative value

(function) of sentences and utterances. - Understanding relations within the

sentence. - Understanding relations between the parts

of a text through grammatical cohesion devices.

- Interpreting text by going outside it. - Recognizing indicators in discourse. - Identifying the main point or important

information in a piece of discourse. - Distinguishing the main idea from

supporting details. - Extracting salient points to summarize (the

text, an idea, etc.). - Selective extraction of relevant points from

a text. - Basic reference skills. - Skimming. - Scanning to locate specifically required

information. - Transcoding information to diagrammatic

display. In order to develop these skills, several types of exercises can be used. These question-types can have two different functions. 1 To clarify the organization of the passage. The questions can be about:

- the function of the passage - the general organization (e.g.

argumentative) - the rhetorical organization (e.g.

contrast, comparison) - the cohesive devices (e.g. link-words) - the intrasentential relations (e.g.

derivation, morphology, hyponymy) 2 To clarify the contents of the passage. The questions can be about:

- plain fact (direct reference) - implied fact (inference) - deduced meaning (supposition) - evaluation

The above skills, question-types and question-functions are constantly related since a given exercise uses a certain type of question, with a certain function, to develop a particular reading skill. Some assumptions There are a number of considerations to be borne in mind when producing or using reading comprehension exercises. 1 Until very recently materials have

concentrated on the sentence and units smaller than the sentence. This is still very largely true. It was assumed that a text was a succession of separate sentences thematically related and that it was necessary merely to deal with the structure and meaning of the sentences. But, if reading is to be efficient, the structure of longer units such as the paragraph or the whole text must be understood. It is no good studying a text as though it were a series of independent units. This would only lead the students (a) to become dependent on understanding every single sentence in a text, even when this is not necessary to fulfil their reading purpose, with the result that they would tend to read all texts at the same speed and (b) to be reluctant to infer the meaning of sentences or paragraphs from what comes before or after.

2 It is clear, as a consequence of (1), that one should start with global understanding and move towards detailed understanding rather than working the other way round. The tasks given to begin with should be of a more global kind – within the competence of the students. Gradually, as they read more fluently and get the gist of a text more easily, a deeper and more detailed understanding of the text can be worked toward. Similarly, when constructing reading comprehension exercises on a given text, it is always preferable to start with the overall meaning of the text, its function and aim, rather than working on vocabulary or more specific ideas. This treatment is important because: a) It is a very efficient way of building up

the students confidence when faced with authentic texts that often contain

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difficult vocabulary or structures. If the activity is global enough (e.g. choosing from a list what function a text fulfils) the students will not feel at least they understand what the test is about and will subsequently feel less diffident when tackling a new text.

b) It will develop an awareness of the way texts are organized (e.g. stating the main information and developing it, or plying the chronological sequence of events). It is this awareness of the general structure of a passage that will allow the students to read more efficiently later on.

c) Be starting with longer units and by considering the layout of the text, the accompanying photographs or diagrams, the anticipate what they are to find in the text. This is essential in order to develop their skills of inference, anticipation and deduction.

Reading is a constant process of guessing, and what one brings to the text is often more important than what one finds init. This is why, from the very beginning, the students should be taught to use what they know to understand unknown elements, whether these are ideas or simple words. This is best achieved through a global approach to the text. One could sum up this kind of approach in

the following way:

3 It is important to use authentic texts

whenever possible. There are several reasons for this. a) Paradoxically, “simplifying” a text

often results in increased difficulty because the system of references, repetition and redundancy as well as the discourse indicators one relies on

when reading are often removed or at least significantly altered. Simplifying a text may mean. - replacing difficult words or

structures by those already familiar to the students

- rewriting the passage in order to make its rhetorical organization more explicit

- giving a “simplified account”, that is to say conveying the information contained in the text in one’s own words. If a text is to be simplified at all,

then techniques such as rewriting and simplified account seem to be preferable although they usually imply a change of rhetorical organization.

b) Getting the students accustomed to reading authentic texts from the very beginning does not necessarily mean a much more difficult task on their part. The difficulty of a reading exercise depends on the activity which is required of the within their general competence. In other words, one should grade exercises rather than texts.

c) Authenticity means that nothing of the original text is changed and also that its presentation and layout are retained. A newspaper article, for instance, should be presented as it first appeared in the paper: with the same typeface, the same space devoted to the headlines, the same accompanying picture. By standardizing the presentation of texts in a textbook, one not only reduces interest and motivation, but one actually increases the difficulty for the students. The picture, the size of the headline, the use of bold-face type, all contribute to conveying the message to the reader. It is obvious that a reprint will never be completely authentic, once a textbook consist of several texts taken out of context and juxtaposed. But one should at least try to keep them as authentic as possible in order to help the student anticipate _______ by using these non-linguistic clues.

4 Reading comprehension should not be separated from the other skills. There are

Study of the

layout: title, length, pictures, typeface, of the text

Making

+ hypotheses about the contents and function

Anticipation of where to look for confirmation of these hypotheses according to what one

Skimming through the passage

Confirmation or revision of

Further predictio

Second reading for more

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few cases in real life when we do not talk or _______ about that we have read or when we do not relate what we have __ to something we might have heard. It is therefore important to link the different skills through the reading a ________ chosen: - reading and writing, e.g. summarizing,

mentioning what you have read in a letter, note-making, etc.

- reading and listening, e.g. comparing an article and a news-bulletin, using recorded information to solve a written problem, matching opinions and text, etc.

- reading and speaking, e.g. discussions, debates, appreciation, etc.

5 Reading is an active skill. As mentioned earlier, it constantly involves guessing, predicting, checking and asking oneself questions. This should therefore be taken into consideration when devising reading comprehension exercises. It is possible, for instance, to develop the students powers of inference through systematic practice, or introduce questions which encourage students to anticipate the content of a text from its title and illustrations or the end of a story from the preceding paragraphs. Similarly, one should introduce exercises in which there is no single straightforward answer. This type of exercise has too often required students to exercise only their powers of judgment and appreciation, but extending the range of these exercises to cover other reading skills will lead to greater. A second aspect of reading as an actives skill is its communicative function. Exercises must be meaningful and correspond as often as possible to what one is expected to do with the text. We rarely answer questions after reading a text, but we may have to. - write an answer to a letter - use the text to do something (e.g. follow directions, make a choice solve a problem) Compare the information given to some previous knowledge. The third section of this book “Understanding Meaning”

suggests a number of activities of this kind, to which should be added the use of written text for simulations and the use of games (e.g. board games) based on the reading of short texts providing the necessary information for the moves of the players.

6 Another important point when devising reading comprehension exercises is that the activities should be flexible and varied. Few exercise-types are intrinsically good or bad. They only become so when used in relation to a given text. Reading comprehension activities should be suited to the texts and to one’s reasons for reading them. It is essential to take into account the author’s point of view, intention and tone for a full understanding of the text. This may be covered by open questions, etc. in other cases, the text may naturally lend itself to a non linguistic activity such ad tracing a route on a map, or matching pictures and paragraphs.

7 The aim or the exercises must be clearly defined and a clear distinction made between teaching and testing. Testing will obviously involve more accuracy-type exercises whereas through teaching one should try to develop the skills listed on page 4-5. The students must be taught how to approach and consider the text in order to become independent and efficient readers. It is also important to remember that meaning is not inherent in the text, that each reader brings his own meaning to what he reads based on what he expects from the text and his previous knowledge. This shows how difficult it is to test competence in reading comprehension and how great the temptation is to impose one’s own interpretation on the learners.

Reading comprehension in the classroom Constructing exercises There must be variety in the range of exercises. This is an important factor in motivation and it is necessary if different skills are to be covered.

26

An exercise should never be imposed on a text. It is better to allow the text to suggest what exercises are most appropriate to it. In other words, the text should always be the starting point for determining why one would normally read it, how it would be read, how it might relate to other information before thinking or a particular exercise. But it is important to remember that many texts are might spoil the pleasure of reading. A balance should be struck between leaving the student without any help on the one hand and on the other hand “squeezing the text dry”. Classroom procedures The first point to be noted when practicing reading in the classroom is that it is a silent activity. Therefore silent reading should be encouraged in most cases, though the teacher may sometimes need to read part of the text aloud. The students themselves should not read aloud. It is an extremely difficult exercise, highly specialized (very few people need to read aloud in their profession) and it would tend to give the impression that all texts are to be read at the same speed. Besides, when we read, our eyes do not follow each word of the text ones after the other – at least in the case of efficient readers. On the contrary, many words or expressions are simply skipped; we go back to check something, or forward to confirm some of our hypotheses. Such tactics become impossible when reading aloud, and this reading activity therefore tends to prevent the students from developing efficient reading strategies. It is useful to give the class some help on how to approach a new text. The following procedure, for instance, is very helpful with most texts. a) Consider the text as whole, its title,

accompanying picture(s) or diagram(s), the paragraphs, the typeface used, and make guesses about what the text is about, who wrote it, who it is for, where it appeared, etc.

b) ____________________________________. Then ask yourself a number of questions about the contents of the text.

c) Read the text again, more slowly and carefully this time, trying to understand

as much as you can and trying to answer the questions you asked yourself.

Another classroom procedure can consist of helping the student to time himself and increase his reading speed little by little. It is necessary to reach a certain reading speed in order to read efficiently. This can be done by showing the students how to record their reading speed systematically on a chart and to try to improve it each time they read a new text. To say that reading is a silent and personal activity does not imply that it only lends itself to individual work. On the contrary, it is particularly interesting to encourage comparisons between several interpretations of a text which will lead to discussion and probably a need to refer back to the text to check. Here are possible steps: a) Silent reading followed by and activity

which each student does on his own. b) The students now work in pairs, each one

trying to justify his answer. The groups should try to agree on one answer or interpretation.

c) The groups exchange partners and students compare their results.

d) A general discussion involving the whole class may follow.

When to use reading comprehension exercises Reading can be done as a class activity (see above) but reading activities can also be devised to individualize students’ work at home. Instead of choosing one activity for the whole class, two or three sets of exercises of varying difficulty can be prepared based on the same text so that each student can work at home at his own level. If the text is then to be discussed in the class, each group of students who have worked on the same exercises will be able to talk about what they have done. This will certainly be stimulating for the weaker students, while the better ones will not feel held back. If there is little teacher-control of the reading activity, then self-correcting exercises are extremely useful. The students are able to evaluate their work and can try little by little to improve their reading ability. They feel

27

reassured and guided and using this type of materials is one of the best ways of building up the students’ confidence. (See Multiread II (S.R.A. Paris, 1973) and Multiread A). The exercise ________ in this book have been divided into four ________. The first is devoted to those reading skills and strategies _______ are essential to acquiring a basic reading competence. The three parts that follow aim to illustrate different ways of helping the students _______ a better understanding of a text, starting from overall comprehension (Function and organization of the passage), moving towards more detailed one (Understanding meaning) and ending with some guidelines to help the students assess and evaluate what they have read. There is obviously, however, a certain amount of overlapping between these four parts. Reading techniques Most of the techniques dealt with in this part are already familiar to the students in their native language. But it is necessary to re-train them, as some students have difficulty in applying them to a second language. 1 Sensitizing The aim of this section is to provide exercises that will develop the strategies that students need to cope with unfamiliar words and complex or apparently obscure sentences. It should ensure that they do not stumble on every difficulty or get discouraged from the outset. 1.1 INFERENCE Inferring means making use of syntactic, logical and cultural clues to discover the meaning of unknown elements. If these are words, then word-formation and derivation will also play an important part. When dealing with a new text, it is better not to explain the difficult words to the learners beforehand. They would only get used to being given “pre-processed” texts and would never make the effort to cope with a difficult passage on their own. On the contrary,

students should be encouraged to make a guess at the meaning of the words they do not know rather than look them up in a dictionary. If they need to look at the dictionary to get a precise meaning –which is an important and necessary activity too- they should only do so after having tried to work out a solution on their own. This is why, from the very beginning, it is vital to develop inference along different lines: - One exercise (exercise 10) is devised to

train the students to infer as quickly as possible the meaning of previously learned but incomplete words.

- The other exercises aim at making the students work out a strategy of inference for dealing with unfamiliar words.

- In the first part of the section on inference the exercises are meant to practice inference through the context.

- In the second part, they practice inference through word-formation.

- Most of the exercises simply require of the students that they should guess the meaning of unfamiliar words.

- One exercise, however (exercise 9), leads them to analyse their process of inference more systematically.

2.2 UNDERSTANDING RELATIONS WITHIN

THE SENTENCE Inability to infer the meaning of unknown elements often causes discouragement and apprehension in students when they are faced with a new text. A similar problem arises when students are unable to get an immediate grasp of sentence structures. This will be a definite handicap in the case of texts with relatives, embedded clauses and complex structures. It is therefore important to train the students, as early as possible, to look first for the “core” of the sentence (subject + verb). In order to do that, the learners can be asked to divide passages into sense groups and underline, box, or sentence in a passage (See exercises 1-2.) 3.3 LINKING SENTENCES AND IDEAS Another area in which it is essential to prepare the students is in recognizing the various devices used to create textual cohesion and more particularly the use of reference and link-words.

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Reading comprehension exercise-types Reading

techniques How the aim is conveyed

Understanding meaning

Assessing the text

I SENSITI / ING 1. Inference:

through the context. Inference: through. Word-formation

2. Understanding relations within the sentence

3. linking sentences and ideas: reference Linking entences and ideas: Link-words

2. IMPROVIN

G BRADING SPEED

3. FROM _________ TO SCANNING

1. Predicting 2. Previewing 3. Anticipatio

n 4. Skimming 5. Scanning

I AIM AND FUNCTION OF THE TEXT 1. Function of

the text 2. Functions

within the text

2 ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXT: DIFFERENT THEMATIC PATTERNS 1. Main idea

and supporting details

2. Chronological sequence

3. Descriptions 4. Analogy and

contrast 5. Classificatio

n 6. Argumentati

ve and logical organization

3 THEMATIZATION

I NON-LINGUISTIC RESPONSE TO THE TEXT 1. Ordering a

sequence of pictures

2. Comparing texts and pictures

3. Matching 4. Using

illustrations 5. Completing

a document 6. Mapping it

out 7. Using the

information in the text

8. Jigsaw reading

2 LINGUISTIC RESPONSE TO THE TEXT 1. Reorganizin

g the information: reordering events

2. Comparing several texts

3. Completing a document

4. Question-types

5. Study skills: summarizing Study skills: note-taking

I FACT VERSUS OPINION 2 WRITER’S INTENTION

Reference covers all the devices that permit lexical relationship within a text (e.g. reference to an element previously mentioned – anaphora – or to one to be mentioned below – cataphora, use of synonymy, hyponymy, comparison, nominalization, etc.) It is important for the students to realize that a text is not made up of independent sentences or clauses, but that it is a web of related ideas that are announced, introduced and taken up again later throughout the passage with the help of references. Exercises such as 1 and 2 can help the students recognize this use of reference more quickly. _______________________ words of the passage some of the facts and ideas will probably escape him. But if he does not understand inter – or intra-sentential connectors, he may also fail to recognize the communicative value of the passage since

those words act as signals indicating the function of what follows (e.g. announcing a conclusion, an example, a supposition). From the very beginning, students should therefore be taught not only to understand them when they come across them, but also to look out for such markers. This will be useful to them when skimming, since the simple recognition of those link-words will help them to understand the development of the argument in the passage. Some exercises are suggested along the following lines: - Recognizing the function of the connectors

and finding equivalents (exercises 1-2). - Completing texts with the missing link-

words (exercise 3-5). - Transforming a series of statements and

propositions into a coherent text by joining sentences and adding connectors.

This last kind of exercise is a difficult one but very interesting since it admits of several possible solutions and the comparison of the results obtained will show different ways of presenting the same information. 2 Improving reading speed Students who read too slowly will easily get discouraged. They will also tend to stumble on unfamiliar words and fail to grasp the general meaning of the passage One of the most common ways of increasing reading speed is to give students passages to read and to ask them to time themselves. A conversion table, taking the length of the text and the reading time into account, will tell them what their reading speed is and this will make it easier for them to try and read a little faster every time. Reading should also be followed by comprehension questions or activities since reading speed should not be developed at the expense of comprehension. Most of the exercises in this book can therefore be used with faster reading in mind. Below is an example of a conversion table for ________ word text (from Gerald and Vivienne Mosback, Practical Faster Reading. Cambridge University Press, 1976).

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When practicing faster reading systematically, the students can be encouraged to keep a record of their results, showing their progress (e.g. in the form of a graph). This should encourage them to read more. The few exercises on speed reading included in this book are of a _________ kind since they aim to develop speed in recognizing words ____________________________________

Reading time

(min/secs)

Speed (w.p.m)

Reading time

(min/secs)

Speed (w.p.m)

1.00 1.10 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 2.00 2.10 2.20 2.30 2.40 2.50 3.00

500 427 375 334 300 273 250 231 215 200 188 174 167

3.10 3.20 3.30 3.40 3.50 4.00 4.10 4.20 4.30 4.40 4.50 5.00

158 150 143 137 131 125 120 116 111 107 104 100

3 From skimming to scanning One of the most important points to keep in mind when teaching reading comprehension is that there is not one type of reading but several according to one’s reasons for reading. Students will never read efficiently unless they can adapt their reading speed and technique to their aim when reading. By reading all texts in the same way, students would waste time and fail to remember points of importance to them because they would absorb too much non-essential information. The exercises suggested in this section should therefore make the students more confident and efficient readers. 3.1 PREDICTING This is not really a technique but a skill which is basic to all the reading techniques practiced in this part and to the process of reading generally. It is the faculty of predicting or guessing what is to come next, making use of grammatical, logical and cultural clues. This skill is at the core techniques such as “anticipation” or

“skimming” and will therefore be practiced in those sections, but it may be worth while to devote some time to more systematic training by giving the students unfinished passages to complete or by going through a text little by little, stopping after each sentence in order to predict what is likely to come next (see exercises 1-2). 3.2 PREVIENWING Unlike predicting, previewing is a very specific reading technique ________________________ ________________________, the chapter and paragraph headings in order to find out _______ The required information is likely to be. It is particularly useful when skimming and scanning and as study skill. 3.3 _____________ _________________ great importance when reading. Partly because _______ what we usually read is what we want to read (books, ______________________, etc.), but also because being motivated _________ that we start reading the text prepared to find a number of ___________, expecting to find answers to a number of questions and ______ information or ideas we are interested in. this “expectation is inherent in the process of reading which is a permanent interrelationship between the reader and the text. What we already know about the subject and what we are looking for are probably just as important as what we actually drew from the text. When reading, we keep making predictions which, in their turn, will be confirmed or corrected. This underlines the artificiality of the classroom situation in which students are often confronted with passages they know nothing about, do not and cannot situate in a more general cultural context and – what is even more important – have no particular desire to read. It is very difficult, in such conditions, to expect the students to learn to read better. The practice of letting the students choose the topics they wish to read about should

30

therefore be encouraged. However, when dealing with larger groups, it may not always be easy to agree on definite subject and the teacher may also wish to introduce a new topic which he believes might be off interest. When this is the case it is often worthwhile to spend some time getting the students ready to read a given text. Before the students start reading a text, they can always be asked to look for the answers to specific questions. This will give an incentive to their reading activity. A few other possibilities are suggested in the exercises: - Psychological sensitizing aimed at making

the students think about the subject of the text and ask themselves questions (exercises 1-3).

- Using the title and pictures to talk about the various ways the text may develop (exercises 4-5).

3.4-5 SKIMMING AND SCANNING Both skimming and scanning are specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading. When skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer. When scanning, we only try to locate specific information and often we do not even follow the linearity of the passage to do so. We simply let our eyes wander over the text until we find what we are looking for, whether it be a name, a date, or a less specific piece of information. Skimming is therefore a more through activity which requires an overall view of the text and implies a definite reading competence. Scanning, on the contrary, is far more limited since it only means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose. Yet it is usual to make use of these two activities together when reading a given text. For instance, we may well skim through an article first just to know whether it is worth reading, then read it through more carefully because we have decided that it is of interest. It is also possible afterwards to scan the same article in order to note down a figure or

a name which we particularly want to remember. The first two exercises in the “skimming” section are training and preliminary exercises. Those that follow (exercises 3-10) try to recreate authentic reading situations. They should contribute to building up the students’ confidence by showing them how much they can learn simply by looking at some prominent parts of an article, by catching a few words only, by reading a few paragraphs here and there in a story. Their aim is certainly not to encourage the students to read all texts in such a superficial way (this would be in contradiction with the principle of flexibility mentioned earlier) but they should make the students better readers, that is, readers who can decide quickly what they want or need to read. So many students spend so much time carefully and thoroughly reading a newspaper (for instance) that by the time they find something of real interest, they no longer have time or energy left to read it in detail. The exercises suggested to practice scanning also try to put the students in an authentic situation where they would naturally scan the text rather than read it. The students are therefore asked to solve a specific problem as quickly as possible – which is only possible by means of scanning. How the aim is conveyed In this second part the emphasis is on the function and organization of the passage. 1 Function of the text It is obvious that being a ware of the function of a passage is vital to its comprehension. Therefore, one of the very first things students should be led to do is to find out whether the text aims at convincing the reader, giving him information, asking him for something, etc. In many cases, the very form of the passage, the way it is printed, laid out, or the place where it was found, are sufficient to give us clues as to its function, and students should always be encouraged to make use of these non-linguistic elements. But it may sometimes be more difficult to determine the exact function of the passage and for this reason it is worth devoting some

31

time to activities such as the ones in exercises 1 and 2. 2 Organization of the text

Given a specific function (e.g. convincing the reader) and certain information that has to be conveyed (e.g. some characteristics of a new car), there are many different ways in which this information may be presented and organized. One could compare the new car to other lesser cars for instance, thus using contrast to make the point. Or try to convince the reader by some kind of logical reasoning of the superiority of the car. Another possibility might be to use a chronological sequence of events (for instance listing the major events in the history of the manufacturer), revealing the main characteristics of the car little by little. This shows that the organization of a passage is not always determined by its contents and by the nature of the information to be conveyed. The thematic pattern used is often a choice on the part of the writer and this choice, in its turn, alters the message. Another reason why it is essential for the students to grasp the method used to present the information is that once they have recognized the pattern that is being used, they can apply their reading strategies to the text and predict what is likely to follow. If for instance, we recognize the text as an argumentative one, we will look for arguments and counter-arguments, then for some kind of conclusion drawn from these arguments. The first kind of organization dealt with is that built around a ____________________________ ___________ up the main point, the rest of the text consisting of expansions of various kinds. But one often finds this organization within the paragraph in all kinds of texts. Different types of exercises can be used to train the students to recognize this organization: - Rejecting irrelevant information (exercise

2).

- Finding the topic sentences and what kind of relation they have to the rest of the text (exercise 3-5).

- Discriminating between generalizations and specific statements (exercise 6-7).

- Completing skeleton outlines of the structure of the text (exercises 8-10).

The sections that follow are devoted to other kinds of organization (chronological sequence, description, analogy and contrast, classification, argumentative and logical organization). In each of these sections, the exercises suggested try to involve the students actively, leading them to study the way the ideas are organizes through activities or problems (e.g. filling in tables, or reordering passages) that should motivate them and oblige them to think about the text. They also use visual representations such as tables, tree diagrams and other diagrams as often as possible since they help the students to draw out only what is essential and to see the development of the text more clearly. It should also encourage them to use such devices when taking notes on what they read. 3. Thematization It may be interesting to draw the students’ attention to the way in which the order of the elements in a sentence can alter the message. A few exercises have therefore been included to illustrate the process of thematization. Understanding meaning Besides understanding the way a text is organized, it is of course essential to understand its contents. This part attempts to suggest different ways of doing this. It is usual to help – or check – comprehension through the use of various types of question (e.g. open questions, right or wrong, multiple-choice questions). It is not my intention to dwell on the value of these question-types (see Widdowson, teaching Language as Communication, pp.94ff). however, it should be pointed out that they can have the advantage of involving the students actively, i.e. if they need to think and reason in order to give an answer or make a choice (see Munby, ____________________________________

32

Which there is no simple, obvious answer but which will force the students to examine the text and the different possibilities carefully in order to make up their minds. Some possibilities are suggested. “Question-types”. The other exercises suggested in this part are inspired by two different arms. 1 To make the students active in the

reading process by presenting them with decision-making activities (e.g. drawing a diagram with the information given in the text, solving the problem, completing a table which reorganizes the information).

2 To devise activities which are as natural as possible, i.e. as closed as possible to what one would naturally do with the text (e.g. answering a letter using the information given in that letter, ___ completing a document, comparing several texts, etc.) The activities suggested have been divided into two categories.

1 Non-linguistic response to the text There is a whole range of comprehension activities that do not require any complex verbal response on the part of the learners. In these exercises, something is added to the text (a document, a diagram, a picture) and the students are asked to relate the text to that document. This can mean: - a comparison (e.g. comparing texts and

pictures, matching passages of the text and diagrams)

- a transportation of the information (transcoding the information _____ the _____ of a diagram, completing or labeling a document)

- ______ the information in the passage to find a solution, make a decision ___ solve a problem.

- __________ no actual questions need accompany this kind of exercise, it is one of the most useful ones since this us the way we _______ use what we read and the very fact of being able to make a _______ _______ will be proof that the student has thought about the text and understood it.

2 Linguistic response to the text The exercises suggested enter the following categories: REORGANIZING THE INFORMATION En these exercises, the students are asked to present the information in a different way : to reorganize it according to a different pattern (e.g. completing a table, drawing up a chronological list of the fact that there are many different ways of presenting the same information. COMPARING SEVERAL TEXTS This is a very natural activity since we often mentally compare different versions of the same event or incident, for instance what someone wrote in a letter and what we read in a paper, what a friend tells us about a country and what a guide-book or a travel brochure says. It is through the comparison between the different text that the students’ attention is drawn to what is specific to the passage they are studying. The passages offered for comparison may differ. - in their contents (e.g. one can study the

development of an item of news over a period of time)

- in their point of view (e.g. several articles on the same subject taken from different newspapers).

COMPLETING A DOCUMENT This is basically the same type of activity as the one mentioned under the same heading in the preceding section (“Non-linguistic response to the text”) but this time the students are required to do more than simply provide labels or figures, they must, for example, ask the students to study the information in the text and identify with one of the characters who will then have to react in different situations. STUDY SKILLS Study skills in fact cover many different tasks such as the use of a dictionary, a table of contents (see “Reading techniques”), or underlining and boxing (see “How the aim is conveyed”) but only two major skills have

33

been selected in this section: note-taking and summarizing. Taking notes is essential in order to remember what one reads or listens to but it has a further use: when taking notes, it is necessary to establish the structure of the text and its key ideas and to learn to leave out unessential information. It is a difficult activity which sums up most of the strategies developed in the first there parts. (In __________________________ “Understanding meaning”, in the section _______ “Linguistic response to the test”, require the ability to take notes correctly.) In summary writing, too minor details must be rejected but - a summary is usually written in one’s own

words. - It does not necessarily imply outlining the

structure of the passage, as note-taking usually does.

- It should be an accurate and objective account of the text, leaving out our reactions to it (whereas note-taking can be supplement_ by note-making, i.e. briefly jotting down one’s reactions and ideas about the passage).

Assessing the text One vital aspect of reading comprehension has so far been left out the ability to assess and evaluate the text. This means, first of all, that one should be fully aware of the writer’s intention, of his point of view and possible bias. 1 Fact versus opinion In this section the exercises aim at training the students to be able to discriminate facts from opinions. It is an important part of reading competence since any good reader should be aware of the way his _ judgement is influenced one way or another. 2 Writer’s intention In the second section the activities suggested are focused on the attitude of the writer, the particular kind of bias that can be felt through his writing. This is particular interest, for

instance, in advertising passages (exercises 6-7). In order to be comprehensive this part should also deal with several other aspects which – to no lesser degree – contribute to conveying the message. a) Tone is often one of the most difficult

aspects of a test to grasp. But, it is essential, for what would we think of a student who reads Swift’s A Modest Proposal and fails to recognize the irony in it? And yet, this same student might very well have understood all the facts in the passage. Teachers should therefore make sure that the students are familiar with the whole range of tone (e.g. irony, anger, persuasion, etc.)

b) The language used by the writer, the kind

of sentences he chooses and the way he arranges them also contribute to ____________________________________ left to specialists of literature only, since it is of vital importance, whatever the kind of text studied. This covers aspects such as the kind of vocabulary and sentence structure used, the different forms of speech highlighted, the use of images, the possible imitation of a certain genre, to give only a few examples.

c) Finally, it is obvious that the ideas

expressed in the passage should be discussed and judged at some point. Whatever way these opinions were expressed one cannot help reacting to them and questions leading the students to compare their own views to those of the writer are a necessary component of any reading comprehension syllabus.

No exercises have been suggested to illustrate these last points, partly because many reading books have made use of them and most teachers are therefore familiar with them, partly because it would be extremely difficult to cover the main points in this section; there would in fact be enough material for another book. However, the exercise-types used to practice recognition of the writer’s tone, technique and ideas do not differ from those seen in the preceding parts of the book. It is only the contents that are

34

different and this is another reason why no examples have been given. The fact that for the purposes of this book the exercises are divided up into several categories does not mean these four parts should be used consecutively when teaching reading skills. On the contrary it is necessary with most texts to draw examples from all four parts since one cannot dissociate form and contents.

35

READING

Meeting and Greeting Customs There are many different greeting customs around the world. Here are some The Philippines

The everyday greeting for friends is a handshake for both men and women. Men sometimes pat each other on the back.

Chile People usually shake hands when they meet for the first time. When two women firs meet, they sometimes gibe one kiss on the cheek. (They actually “kiss the air.”) Women also greet both male and female friends with a kiss. Chilean men give their friends warm abrazos (hugs) or sometimes kiss women on the cheek.

Korea Men bow slightly and shake hands to greet each other. Women do not usually shake hands. To address someone with his or her full name, the family name comes first, then the first name.

Finland Finns greet each other with a firm handshake. Hugs and kisses are only for close friends and family.

The United States People shake hands when they are first introduced. Friends and family members often hug or kiss on the cheek when they see each other. In these situations, men often kiss women but not other men.

A According to the article, in which country or countries are the following true? Check ( ) the correct boxes.

B Pair work How do these people greet each other in your country?

1. two male friends 2. a male and female friend 3. two strangers 4. two female friends

NEW INTERCHANGE

36

READING THE DAILY GRIND Is it a good idea for a student to have a job? Why or why not?

Brandon Smith I’m a junior in high school, and I have a part-time job in a restaurant. I bus dishes on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 until 4:00. I earn $5.50 an hour. It isn’t much money, but I save almost every penny! I want to go to a good university, and the cost goes up every year. Of course, I spend some money when I go out on Saturday nights.

Lauren Russell I’m a senior in high school. I have a job as a cashier in a grocery store. The job pays well – about $6.75 an hour. I work every weeknight after school from 4:00 until 8:00. I don’t have time for homework, and my grades aren’t very good this year. But I have to work, or I can’t buy nice clothes and I can’t go out on Saturday nights. Also, a car costs a lot of money.

Erica Davis I’m a freshman in college. College is very expensive, so I work in a law office for three hour every weekday afternoon. I make photocopies, file papers, and sort mail for $8.25 an hour. The job gives me good experience because I want to be a lawyer someday. But I don’t want to work every semester. I need time to study.

A Read the article. Why do these students work? Check ( ) the correct boxes. Brandon Lauren Erica 1. To earn money for college 2. To buy nice clothes 3. To go out on the weekend 4. To pay for a car 5. To get job experience B Pair work Talk about these questions. 1. Look at the reasons why each student works. Who has good reasons to work? Who doesn’t, in

your opinion? 2. How many hours a week does each student work? 3. How much money does each student earn per week? 4. What are the advantages and disadvantages or part-time work for students? LESSON 10

He Had to Eat His Words*

*had to eat (his) words was Sorry (he) said something READING

37

Since* food is important to everybody, people talk about it a lot*; but did you know that you can use food words to say almost anything?

*since See New Words. *a lot often.

Many English idioms* use food words. For example*, when something is easy to do, you can say, “it’s a piece of cake.” Our you can say. “It’s like taking candy* from a baby.”

*idiom(s) See New Words. *example(s) one thing to

explain other things. See Idioms.

* candy see New Words.

Food idioms can tell about linking something or somebody very much. A proud mother points to her child and says, “She’s the apple of my eye.” Food idioms can also* tell about not liking something. A lazy* person says, “Working is not my cup of tea.”

*also See New Words. *lazy See New Words.

Did you ever hear anyone* say, “I’ll take that with a grain* of salt”? Did he mean, “Give me some salt from the shaker*”? No. he meant, “I don’t really believe that.” Another person says, “My friend is the salt of the earth.” She means, “My friend is good and friendly and helpful.”

*anyone See New Words. *grain(s) a very small

piece. *shaker(s) See New

Words.

A lot of slang expressions* use food words, too. Bread is a slang expression for money. Very little money is chicken feed*. When a person says, “Painting is my bread and butter,” she means, “I paint to get the money to live”.

* Slang expression(s) Informal way of saying something. *feed food.

The most important person in a place can be the top banana or the big cheese. A person of no importance* is small potatoes. Does somebody want a lot of attention*? He’s a hot dog. And a terrible actor is a ham.

*importance being important

*attention being looked at and listened to.

Many English idioms and slang expressions use cooking words, too. An angry person is burned up, boiling, or steaming*. He needs time to cool down. When you’re in trouble*, you’re in hot water. When you go from a bad thing, like not seeing a stop sign, to a worse thing, like running into a police car, you go out of the frying pan into the fire.

*to steam to make steam. *trouble a bad thing. See

Idioms.

Questions 1. Do you think learning English is a piece of cake? 2. Have you ever gone out of the frying pan into the fire? What happened? 3. Do you know any food idioms or slang expressions in your language?

What, do they mean in English?

38

Alexander Graham Bell never planned to be an inventor; he wanted to be a musician or a teacher of deaf people. The subjects that he studied in school included music, art, literature, Latin, and Greek. They did not include German, which most scientific and technical writers used in their books, or science or math. 5 Alexander’s mother was a painted and a

musician. His father was a well-known teacher. He developed a system that he called “Visible Speech,” which he used to teach deaf people to speak. When Alexander was a young boy, he and his two brothers helped their father give demonstrations of the system for doctors and other teachers.

10 In 1863, when Alexander was only

sixteen, he became a teacher in a boys’ school in Scotland. He liked teaching there, but he still wanted to become a teacher of deaf people. He read all the books about sound that he could find, and started to work on some of his own experiments. Reading scientific books wasn’t easy for him, but he worked very hard, and he learned a lot about the laws of sound.

15 In 1868, a terrible thing happened to the

Bell family. Alexander’s two brothers died of tuberculosis. Then Alexander became ill with the same disease. The doctor suggested a better climate, and the whole family moved to Canada. Alexander could not work for a year, but he continued his experiments with sound. He became interested in the telegraph, and he tried to find a way to send musical.

20 Sound through electric wires. These

experiments were not very successful. After a year of rest, Alexander was offered a job at the School for the Deaf in Boston, Massachusetts. He was so successful that he was able to open his own school when he was only twenty-five.

About this time, Alexander became interested in finding a way to send the human.

25 Voice through an electric wire. The parents of some of the children whom he taught contributed money for equipment. He found an assistant, Tom Watson, who worked in an electrical shop and knew a lot about building electric machines. Tom an Alexander worked together to build a machine that people could use to talk to one another over long distances.

30 After two years, the two young men were

becoming discouraged. Then, one day, when they were working on a new transmitter, Alexander spilled some acid on himself. Tom Watson, who was alone in another room, heard a voice. The voice was coming through a wire to a receiver on the table! The voice was Alexander Graham Bell’s! it was saying, “Come here, Mr. Watson! I want you”

35 The spilled acid was forgotten when Tom

and Alexander realizes that their talking machine worked.

The first permanent telephone line was built in Germany in 1877. and in 1878, the first telephone exchange was established in New Jersey. By 1315, a coast-to-coast telephone

40 Line was opened in the United States – 5440 kilometers from New York to San Francisco. Alexander Graham Bell was invited to open the new line, and he asked his old friend, Tom Watson, to help. On the important day, January 25, 1315, Mr. Watson was in San Francisco and Mr. Bell was in New York City. Everyone expected to hear a serious, scientific speech.

45 The words that Mr. Bell chose to say were, “Come here, Mr. Watson! I want you!”

LESSON 3 THE TELEPHONE

39

Lesson 8 In 1812, in a village near Paris, France, a little boy had a terrible accident. He hit himself in the eye with one of his father’s sharp tools, and became blind. His name was Louis Braille, and he was only four years old. He was a clever little boy, and he soon learned to “see” without his eyes. He touched things, or smelled them, or tasted them. His family described things to him. Although he couldn’t see people’s faces, he learned to recognize their voices. After his seventh birthday, Louis went to the little school in the village. But there weren’t any books for him. His classmates read his lessons to him an his sisters helped him with his homework. He learned his lessons well, but he couldn’t learn to read or write. In 1819, the village priest told Louis Braille’s story to the director if a famous school for blind boys. At this school, boys learned to read! Louis went to the school in Paris in February, 1819. he loved his classes and received high grades. He learned to play the piano and to knit hats and sweaters. And he learned to read – with his fingers! The raised-print letters in the books at school stood up from the surface of the paper. Louis could feel them with his fingers. He was able to recognize some of them easily, but some of them were more difficult. The letters had to be very large; sometimes there were only a few letters on a page. The books were huge and heavy. And they were expensive. There were only fourteen books in the school library! Louis read the three or four books for his class again and again. He tried to think of a better way to make books for blind people. He experimented with new alphabets. After about three years, Louis invented a system of raised dots. Here is his alphabet:

The other students thought Louis’s system was wonderful. They were able to read it easily, and they learned to write it, too. Today, there are thousands of Braille books for blind people. Louis Braille was only fifteen years old when he invented his wonderful system!

40

LESSON 14

Stop, thief!

CONVERSATIONS

1.

2.

3.

MRS. VANDERGILT

Young man, I’ve been here for then minutes. Would you please wait on me?

YOUNG MAN MRS. VANDERGILT

I’m sorry, ma’am. I can’t. What do you mean – you can’t? Of course you can. Is this camera on sale?

YOUNG MAN MRS. VANDERGILT

Ma’am, you’ll have to wait for… I beg your pardon. I’m Abigail Vandergilt, and I do not like to wait! Now please show me your least expensive camera.

YOUNG MAN MRS. VANDERGILT

But I really can’t help you. I don’t… How insulting! I want to see the manager!

MANAGER I understand you’re too busy to help Mrs. Vandergilt, our riches… I mean, our best customer.

YOUNG MAN MANAGER

No, sir. I’m not too busy. I just don’t… Your just don’t work in this shop anymore. You’re fired!

MANAGER MRS. VANDERGILT

There. I’ve taken care of everything. Thank you. No one has ever treated me as badly as that impolite young man.

MANAGER Hey! Look at him now! He’s stealing the cash register! Stop, thief!

YOUNG MAN MANAGER YOUNG MAN

Sir, I’m not stealing it! Well, what are you doing then? I’ve tried to tell you. I’m not a clerk here. I repair cash registers. This one won’t open, and all of the store’s money is inside.

MANAGER The money?!?! Here, let me help you! Where’s your hammer? Mrs. Vandergilt, would you please get out of the way!!!

UNIT 5

41

LESSON 15

Will that be cash or charge?

CONVERSATIONS

1.

2.

3.

Questions 1. What did the customer want to buy? Why? 2. How did the customer pay for the shirts? 3. Do you usually charge things or pay cash? Why?

CUSTOMER Where are the shirts that are on sale? MISS TELLER They’re in aisle three, near the elevator. CUSTOMER Thank you.

CUSTOMER MRS. SELLERS CUSTOMER

Excuse me, ma’am. Could you help me? Of course. I’m looking for the shirts that are on sale. The ones that were in the ad in the paper had long sleeves, but these all have shorts sleeves.

MRS. SELLERS CUSTOMER MRS. SELLERS

There are plenty of long-sleeved shirts on the counter behind you. Are they washable? Yes. The washing instructions are on the tags.

MR. WALKER CUSTOMER MR. WALKER

Can I help you? I’m looking for the clerk who was waiting on me I’ve decided to buy these two shirts. I’ll take care of it. Will that be cash or charge?

CUSTOMER MR. WALKER

Cash. Do you charge for gift wrapping? No, gift wrapping is free.

CUSTOMER MR. WALKER

Good. They’re a birthday present for my brother. All right. Just wait a few minutes and I’ll warp them and bring you your change.

CUSTOMER Thank you.

42

Acknowledgments Texts 8 Reuse of abridgment of Beowulf: The Oldest English Epic, translated by Charles W. Kennedy from pages 3-101. reprinted by permission. 35 From Grendel, by John Gardner. Copyright © 1971 by John Gardner. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf Inc. 47-48 “The Prologue” and “The Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale” from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, translated by Nevill Coghill (Penguin Classics 1951, Fourth revised edition, 1977). Copyright © 1951, 1958, 1960, 1975, 1977 by Nevill Coghill. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd. 61 From Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, translated by M. R. Ridley. Reprinted by permission of Reed Consumer Books. 88 From A Distant Mirror by Barbara W. Tuchman. Copyright ©1978 by Barbara W. Tuchman. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. 92 From The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Reprinted by permission. 192 From Ancient Egyptian Literature, Three Volumes, by Miriam Lichteim, pp. 125-126. Copyright © 1973-1980 by The Regents of the University of California. Reprinted by permission of The University of California Press. 193 “Aeschylus” from The Eumenides, translated by Richmond Lattimore. Copyright © 1953 by The University of Chicago. Reprinted by permission. 194 From Crime And Punishment by Feodor Dostoevski. Reprinted by permission. 211 “Summer is Gone” from A Book Of Ireland, edited by Frank O’Connor. Reprinted by permission. 212 “Fern Hill” by Dylan Thomas from The Poems Of Dylan Thomas. Copyright 1952 by The Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corporation and David Higham Associates Limited. 219 “Lineage” from Crow by Ted Hughes. Reprinted by permission. 239 From “David’s Story” and “The Bubble Boy” by Carol Ann with Dent Demaret in People Weekly, October 29, 1984 and November 5, 1984. Copyright © 1984 by Time, inc Reprinted by permission. 241 from Six Degrees Of Separation by John Guare. Copyright © 1990 by John Guare. Reprinted by permission of Vintage Books, a Division of Random House

Inc. 244 Lyrics only of “We are The World” by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. Reprinted by permission. 280 “Postcard from Paradise” by Chris Williamson. Copyright © 1993 by Bird Ankles Music (BMI). Reprinted by permission of Chris Williamson. 369 Excepts from Fame In The 20th Century by Clive James. Reprinted by permission. 389 “October 10, 1940” from This Is London by Edward R. Murrow. Reprinted by permission. 434 Abridgment or “The Power Of Dreams” by George Howe Colt in Life, September 1995. reprinted by permission. 507 From “The monster’s Human Nature” by Stephen Jay Gould in Natural History, July 1994. Copyright © 1994 by the American Museum of Natural History. Reprinted by Permission. When You Are Old William Butler Yeats When you are old and gray and full of sleep And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; How many loved your moments of glad grace, And loved your beauty with love false or true, But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you, And loved the sorrows of your changing face; And bending down beside the glowing bars, Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled And paced upon the mountains overhead And hid his face amid a crowd of stars. The Wild Swans at Coole William Butler Yeats The trees are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry, Under the October twilight the water Mirrors a still ski; Upon the brimming water among the stones Are nine-and-fifty swans. The nineteenth autumn has come upon me Since I first made my count; I saw before I had well finished, All suddenly mount.

LITERATURE AND INTEGRATED STUDIES

43

Talk to your classmates about South America and then write what you know about it.

Read the passage and fill in the table.

Read the passage and choose the correct answer.

Read the sentences, and write TRUE or FALSE according to the previous passage. Follow the example. 1. A modern city is not the center of commercial and economic activities. FALSE_ 2. There are not millions of people in Mexico City. _______ 3. Mexico City has many factories, buildings, and schools. _______

ARGENTINA OFFICIAL LANGUAGE_________________ LOCATION___________________________ AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION__________ TOTAL AREA_________________________ __________________________________ COASTLINE__________________________ RANCH ANIMALS____________________ CAPITAL____________________________ _________________________________

ENGLISH EVERYWHERE 1

44

4. Mexico city has only one museum and one theater. _______ 5. There aren’t any busses in Mexico City. _______ 6. Factories, cars, buses, and airplanes are causing air and water pollution. _______ 7. There are many traffic jams in Mexico City. _______ 8. In Mexico City, people like museums, galleries, cinemas, theaters, etc. _______

45

Expressions: That’s true. Ready? You’re all as busy as a bee.

1. It is a big state: 244,938 square

kilometers. a) Galeana is a big state: 244,938 square

kilometers. b) Chihuahua is a big state: 244,938

square kilometers. 2. It has 67 municipalities. a) Barranca del Cobre has 67

municipalities. b) Chihuahua has 67 municipalities. 3. Its agricultural production of Galeana is

very rich. a) The agricultural production is very

rich. b) The agricultural production of

Chihuahua is very rich. 4. They can see beautiful places. a) Tourist can see beautiful places. b) My friends can see beautiful places. 5. Also, they can eat deer meat… a) Also, tourists can eat deer meat… b) Also, you can eat deer meat… 6. …and delicious food from that rich state. a) … and delicious food from Tubare. b) … and delicious food from Chihuahua. Talk to your classmates and fill the summary with:/is washing/is…doing/. Asking for and giving information about activities that are taking place now: What (1)____ your sister _________?

What’s

She (2)____ ________ the dishes. She’s

TELL ME ABOUT CHIHUAHUA

46

Read the passage and fill in the table.

Read the passage and fill in the table. Follow the example.

YEAR HISTORICAL FACTS OF THE

SECOND WORLD WAR WORLD WAR 1919

The Allied Powers and Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles. Germans felt it was unfair.

1943 1944 In February, 1945

In April. 1945

In May, 1945

You are a historian talking about the Second World War. Start as follows:

ENGLISH EVERYWHERE 2

47

Historian: The Second World War began in 1939 and ended in 1945. Talk to your classmates and write what you know about endangered species.

Underline the correct answer according to the passage.

1. Animals are an important part of a) the supermarkets. b) the shopping malls. c) the environment.

Read the previous passage with your classmates and underline in green eight verbs and their subjects.

2. People kill elephants and rhinoceroses a) for their tusks and horns. b) for the hunters’ zoos. c) for the panda’s horn.

Write the words you underlined in the previous exercise. Follow the example.

3. Whales and dolphins are a) in danger of reproducing too rapidly. b) in danger of becoming extinct. c) in danger of living too many years.

SUBJECTS VERBS 1 People kill 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

4. Hunters kill panda bear a) in Switzerland. b) in Australia. c) in China. 5. Help the endangered species, so a) don’t buy

products that come from endangered animals.

b) buy things that come from endangered animals

c) buy elephants’ tusks.

48

He threw back the covers and sat up on his bed, his feet feeling along the cold floor for his house slippers, the telephone ringing insistently a little distance away. He turned on the light and picked up the phone. “This is Doctor Benson,” he said. The November wind was bringing sounds of winter as it blew around the little white house. The doctor got into his clothes. He went to the table and stared a moment at his watch, his spirit complaining at the job ahead of him. Two o’clock. His mind also complained at the horrible hour and he wondered why children always had to be born at such improper times. He took up two small satchels: the short pill bag, as the people of the town knew it, and the long obstetrical case – the baby bag they called it. Doctor Benson stopped a moment to light a cigarette, then put the pack of cigarettes in his overcoat pocket. The wind felt like a surgeon’s knife at his face as he opened the door and ran, bending low, around the driveway to the garage. His car started with difficulty, coughed a half-dozen times as he drove down the driveway but then began to run more smoothly as he turned down Grass Street and on to the deserted highway. Mrs. Ott Sorley, whom Doctor Benson was on his way to visit, already had almost a dozen children, but it seemed to the doctor that never once had she had a baby in good weather, nor in daylight. And while Doctor Benson was a country doctor, he was still a young man and couldn’t find the pleasure that his father, “the old Doc Benson”, had found in seeing Ott, the father, always two or tree babies behind in the payment of his baby bills. It was a long ride out to the Sorley farm and the sight of a man walking alone along the country road, as seen just ahead by the lights of the car, was a welcome relief to the doctor. He slowed down and looked at the man

walking along with difficulty against the wind, a little package under his arm. Coming alongside, Doctor Benson stopped and invited the man to ride. The man got in. “Are you going far?” asked the doctor. “I’m going all the way to Detroit.” Said the man, a rather thin man with small black eyes filled with tears from the wind. “Could you give me a cigarette?” Doctor Benson unbuttoned his coat, the remembered the cigarettes in the outer pocket of his overcoat. He took out the package and gave it to the rider who then looked in his own pockets for a match. When the cigarette was lighted, the man held the package a moment, then asked, “Do you mind, mister, if I take another cigarette for later?” The rider shook the package to remove another cigarette without waiting for the doctor answer. Doctor Benson felt a hand touch his pocket. “I’ll put them back in your pocket,” the little fellow said. Doctor Benson put his hand down quickly to receive the cigarettes and was a little irritated to find them already in his pocket. After a few minutes Doctor Benson said: “So you’re going to Detroit?” “I’m going out to look for work in one of the automobile plants.” “Are you a mechanic?” asked the doctor. “More or less. I’ve been driving a truck since the war ended. But I lost my job about a month ago.” “Where you in the army during the war?” “Yeah, I was in the ambulance section. Right up at the front. Drove an ambulance for four years.” “Is that so?” said Doctor Benson. “I’m a doctor myself. Doctor Benson is my name.”

A CASE OF SUSPICION

49

“I thought this car smelled like pills,” the man laughed. Then he added, more seriously, “My name is Evans.” They rode along silently for a new minutes and the rider moved himself in his seat and placed his package on the floor. As the man leaned over, Doctor Benson caught his first good look at the small, catlike face. The doctor also noticed the long deep scar on the man’s cheek, bright and red-looking as though it were of recent origin. He thought of Mrs. Ott Sorley and reached for his watch. His fingers went deep into his pocket before he realized that his watch was not there. Doctor Benson moved his hand very slowly and very carefully below the seat until he felt the leather holster in which he always carried with him his automatic pistol. He drew out the pistol slowly and held it in the darkness at his side. Doctor Benson stopped the car quickly and pushed the car quickly and pushed the nose of his gun into Evans’ side. “Put that watch into my pocket,” he said angrily. The rider jumped with fear and put up his hands quickly. “My God, mister,” he whispered. “I thought you…” Doctor Benson pushed the pistol still deeper into the man’s side and repeated coldly, “Put that watch in my pocket before I let his gun go off.” Evans put his hand in his own vest pocket and later, with trembling hands, tried to put the watch into the doctor’s pocket. With his free hand Doctor Benson pushed the watch down into his pocket. He opened the door and forced the man out of the car. “I’m out here tonight, probably to save a woman’s life, but I look the time to try to help you,” he said to the man angrily. Doctor Benson started the car quickly and the wind closed the door with a loud noise. He put the pistol back into the leather holster under the seat and hurried on. The drive up the mountain to the Sorley farm was less difficult than he had feared and Ott

Sorley had sent one of his older boys down the road with a lantern to help him across the old wooden bridge that led up to the little farmhouse. Mrs. Sorley’s many previous experiences with bringing children into the world apparently helped her greatly because she delivered this child with little difficulty and there was no need on Doctor Benson’s part for the instruments in the long bag. After it was over, however, Doctor Benson took out a cigarette and sat down to smoke. “A fellow I picked up in my car on my way up here tonight tried to rob me,” he said to Ott, feeling a little proud. “He took my watch. But when I pushed my .45 pistol into his side he decided to give it back to me.” Ott smiled wide at such an exciting story coming from young Doctor Benson. “Well, I’m glad he gave it back to you,” Ott said. “Because if he hadn’t, we wouldn’t have any idea what time the child was born. What time would you say it happened, Doc?” Doctor Benson took the watch from his pocket. “The baby was delivered about thirty minutes ago, and right now it’s…” He walked over to the lamp on the table. He stared strangely at the watch in his hand. The crystal was cracked and the top was broken. He turned the watch over and held it closer to the lamp. He studied the worn inscription: “To private t. Evans, Ambulance Section, whose personal bravery preserved our lives the night of Nov. 3, 1943, near the Italian front, Nurses Nesbitt, Jones, and Wingate.” Comprehension and Discussion Questions 1. At approximately what time of night was

Doctor Benson awakened by the ringing of the telephone?

2. Who was calling him at his hour? 3. Whom did Doctor Benson see walking

ahead of him along the lonely country road?

4. To what city did the man whom the doctor picked up say that he was going?

5. In what section of the army did the man say that he had been stationed?

50

6. What features of the man’s appearance made Doctor Benson a little suspicious of him?

7. When Doctor Benson discovered that his watch was not in his pocket what did he reach for under the seat?

8. What did he say to the man as he pushed the gun into his side?

9. Why did Mr. Sorley say that he was very glad that the man had returned the watch to Doctor Benson?

10. After examining the watch, what inscription did Doctor Benson find on the back?

Vocabulary and idiom Review A. Circle the word in parentheses which completes each sentence correctly: 1. If a telephone rings insistently, it rings (off

and on/seldom/now and then/steadily). 2. When we are sick the doctor sometimes

gives us (slippers/pills/money/magazines). 3. He picked up the receiver means that he

picked up (a doctor’s bag/a magazine/a telephone/his clothes).

4. We generally wear (slippers/an overcoat/a shirt/stockings) only in the winter.

5. Another word for automobile is (car/plane/slipper/pill).

6. When you lose something, you generally (look at it/look it up/look it over/look for it).

7. My automobile needed to be repaired. So I took it to (a farmer/a truck driver/a mechanic/a druggist).

8. The lesson is over; that is, it has (begun/ended/been interesting/been canceled).

9. A (slipper/pill/watch/lantern) will help you to see in the dark.

10. He was going to look for work in an automobile plant; that is, he was going to look for work in a (farm/house/factory/ship).

B. Use the following expressions in sentences of your own:

1. sit up 7. drive a car 2. turn on 8. learn over 3. slow down 9. reach for 4. put something back 10. be over 5. take out 11. on his way

to 6. look for 12. more or

less

C. One of the most common endings in English is –li. Then use each of the resulting words in a sentence of your own: He always does very careful work. He always does his work very carefully. Change the following adjectives to adverbs by adding –ly. It is usually used to change an adjective to an adverb.

1. insistent 6. serious 2. eager 7. profound 3. bitter 8. silent 4. intimate 9. trembling 5. fortunate 10. strange

51

It was a small window with narrow pieces of paper pasted across it to prevent is breaking during the heavy air raids. In the small space at the center that remained, a little man with eyeglasses was carefully setting out his display of clocks and watches. He paid no attention to the many Londoners hurrying by to begin another day. When he finished placing his merchandise, the little man came out of the shop and stared in the window. He had placed the clocks and watches with great care – the clocks in a row at the back, and in front of them lying flat, a semicircle of watches. All the clocks had their faces neatly divided in the middle by hands that pointed to six o’clock; all the watches, thin or fat, had their hands pointing straight at three o’clock. “Yes,” said the jeweler with a satisfied look. “Very nice.” About an hour later a passenger got out of the bus at the corner. He was a tall man with a blonde moustache, and he wore a heavy overcoat and black hat. He was slightly lame and carried a cane. He smiled when the policeman at the corner said “Good morning” to him. The lame man’s name was Gebhardt, and the policeman’s superior officers would have been very glad to know that. Gebhardt walked slowly, leaning heavily on his cane. The meeting with the policeman never failed to amuse him, and he smiled to himself at the stupidity of the English. Gebhardt looked into the jewelry shop window. There was no expression on his face as he looked from the clocks that said six to the watches that said three. He had passed the shop faithfully every day for two weeks, but had never gone in. Gebhardt ser his wristwatch and pushed open the door. A salesman was talking with the jeweler at the far end of the counter, but they turned as the door shut. The jeweler walked toward Gebhardt and stared at him. “Yes?” asked the little man. “My watch,” said Gebhardt. “It seems to stopped. An hour or so ago.” He took off his watch and laid it on the counter.

The watch’s hands indicated nine o’clock. “I see,” said the jeweler, “Stopped.” Gebherdt looked toward the salesman but the salesman was busy examining a catalogue. The jeweler picked up the watch. Gebhardt said: “And you might change the strap. That one is about worn out.” He leaned against the counter and waited. Once he looked into the back room where the jeweler had taken his watch. He could see the old man, bent over a desk, examining his watch. Gebhardt lit a cigarette and waited. It was less than five minutes when the little man came back. He held out the watch with its new strap and Gebhardt put it on. “You should be careful,” said the jeweler. “That’s is a fine watch.” “Yes, I know,” said Gebhardt casually. “And I’m sure it will work perfectly now.” He paid the jeweler and left the stop. All the way back to his room Gebhardt was conscious of the strap on his wrist, but he did not look at the watch even once. After all, in his business you couldn’t be too careful. Once inside the small room where he had lived since he first came to London, Gebhardt put aside all appearance of lameness and moved about the room with quick sureness, locking the door, pulling down the curtains. Finally, he lit the light over his desk and took off his wristwatch. Working rapidly, he removed the straps from both ends of the watch. Then with a knife he opened the ends of the straps and, finally, from one end took out a small piece of very thin paper. He spread the paper out on his desk and with a glass began to study the message, which was written in code. The message was short and to the point. It read: “Trucks from King Charles Square will transport Regiment 55 tomorrow A.M. Act at once.” “So”, said Gebhardt softly. He burned the paper in the ashtray. For a moment he sat thinking. He previously knew that a large number of trucks in King Charles Square would be used to carry soldiers from London to the coast. And somewhere along the route

CLOCKWORK

52

trucks and soldiers would be blown to pieces with explosives. Gebhardt drew his suitcase from under the bed and opened it on the desk. From its nest of cotton he picked up one of the bombs. It was wide and flat, quite different in form from the usual, old-fashioned type of bomb. Attached with wire to the bottom of an automobile engine the bomb was deadly when the motor heated. He decided to take with him in a small package about fourteen of the bombs. That was about all he could take care of in two hours. He had detailed information on all the places and garages where Army trucks were stationed, and now he consulted his information on King Charles Square. By midnight all the soldiers and mechanics were gone; at two o’clock a policeman looked in to check up. Gebhardt was very much pleased with himself. Thanks to British inefficiency, he would have the place to himself between twelve o’clock and two o’clock. Thinking of the importance of time suddenly reminded him, and he put a new strap on his watch and then put the watch on his wrist. Then he sat very still, looking into space, mentally checking every detail of the plan. Gebhardt smiled. Of course! Outside the jewelry shop he had set his watch back sixty-four minutes for the signal to the jeweler. He smiled again as he now moved the minute hand of his watch exactly sixty-four minutes ahead. Never forgetting these small details made him a good secret agent, and he knew it. When the time case, Gebhardt moved carefully through the darkness of the blacked-out streets. In the alley behind King Charles Square he stopped and looked at his watch. Twelve o’clock exactly. Gebhardt smiled. The whole thing was going like clockwork. He waited another ten minutes just to be on the safe side. Gebhardt climbed a fence, moved carefully along a narrow space between two buildings, and came out in King Charles Square. He stood a moment, counting the black forms of the trucks. Gebhardt moved over to the nearest truck. He set down his package, took some wire and a

wire cutter from a pocket. He slid under the truck and felt along the bottom of the engine. Lying flat on his back, working in the dark, he began to wire the bomb to the exact place he wanted it. Somebody stepped on his ankle. Pain shot up Gebhardt’s leg, and he bit his lip, not breathing. No, he thought, there can’t be anyone here. There is never anyone here at this hour. I have checked it many times. But that weight kept pressing into his ankle. “All right, mister,” said a voice. “Come out of there.” The ____ cutter tell from his fingers. Hands grabbed ant Gebhardt’s legs, pulled. In a panic, he kicked himself loose, got up, and ran wildly. A man shouted. Someone blew a whistle. A form jumped from nowhere and knocked him to the ground. Gebhardt drove his ___ into a face, twice, pulled away free, ran on. He run into a wall, turned the wrong way. A flashlight focused on turn. He turned back, but too late. “There! Get him!...” Gebhardt drew his revolver. As he ran, he heard them shout as they came closer to him. There was the noise of rapid gun fire behind him, and something struck him in the back. No, thought Gebhardt, the plan was perfect. There was a sharp pain. He said weakly: “no.” he was dead when the soldiers reached him. He lay with his one arm stretched out in front of him, his wristwatch showing the hour. “Imagine the nerve of that guy!” said a young soldier. “He walked in here as though we didn’t even exist. That’s a nice watch he has on. But it broke when he fell.” “It’s an hour fast,” said a second soldier. “How did that happen?” The little jeweler was even more surprised when he read the newspaper report the next day about Gebhardt. “I can’t understand it,” he thought. “The man must have been careless. Nothing went wrong on my part. Why, I even set his watch correctly before I gave it back to him.”

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Comprehension and Discussion Questions 1. As the story opens, what is the jeweler

doing? 2. Why did the jeweler set the watches in his

window all at three o’clock and the clocks all at six o’clock?

3. Who, after seeing this signal, entered the jeweler’s shop?

4. In what part of Gebhardt’s watch? 5. What message was written on the thin

paper placed in the strap of Gebhardt’s watch?

6. What did Gebhardt take from the suitcase under his bed?

7. According to his information, at what hour would he be free to work without interruption in King Charles Square?

8. Why was he very careful to set his watch exactly sixty-four minutes ahead?

9. What happened that night while Gebhardt made in his otherwise careful planning?

Vocabulary and Idiom Review A. Circle the word in parentheses which completes each sentence correctly: 1. If you wish to have your watch repaired,

you go to a (dentist/grocer/druggist/jeweler).

2. A (lock/message/wrist/coast) is part of the body.

3. A wristwatch is generally held to the wrist by means of a (strap/lock/curtain).

4. In a shop or store, the clerk generally stands behind a (window/station/counter/catalogue).

5. A (motor/lantern/lamp/knife) as a sharp edge.

6. A man who is lame has something wrong with his (leg/head/arm/clothes).

7. A cane is used to help someone to (eat/sleep/write/walk).

8. When something is running like clockwork, it is running (behind schedule/exactly on time/heavily/noisily).

9. An alley is (a small street/a cat/a wristwatch/a kind of bomb).

10. The ankle connects (hand and arm/head and shoulders/leg and foot/finger and hand).

B. Use the following expressions in sentences of your own: C. 1. pay attention to 7. pull down 2. get our of 8. take out 3. lean on 9. take care of

4. set a watch 10. spread out 5. pick up 11. after all 6. light a cigarette 12. at once D. Many words in English can be used either as verbs or nouns without any change in form. For example: That woman is a terrible gossip; she gossips about her friends all the time. Use each of the following words first as a verb and then as a noun: 1. work 6. lock 2. help 7. light 3. experiment 8. hurry 4. play 9. dream 5. watch 10 knock

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PART I “Here, take your pineapple juice.” Gently persuaded Koppel, the male nurse. “No!” said Collis P. Ellsworth firmly. “But it’s good for you, sir.” “No!” “It’s the doctor’s orders.” “No!” Koppel heard the front door bell and was glad to leave the room. He found Doctor Caswell in the hall downstairs. “I can’t do a thing with him,” he told the doctor. “He won’t take his pineapple juice. He doesn’t want me to read to him. He hates the radio. He doesn’t like anything.” Doctor Caswell received the information with his usual professional calm. He had done some thinking since his last visit. This was no ordinary case. The old gentleman was in pretty good shape for a man of seventy-six years. But he had to be prevented from buying things. He had suffered his last heart attack after his disastrous purchase of that small railroad out in Iowa. The attack before that came from the excitement caused by the failure of the chain of grocery stores which he had previously bought at a very high price. All of his purchases of recent years had to be liquidated at a great sacrifice both to his health and his pocketbook. Though he was still very wealthy, his health had begun to show serious effects from these various business operations. Collis P. Ellsworth sat in a huge armchair by the window. He looked around as Doctor Caswell asked, “Well, how’s the young man today?” “Umph!” said the figure in the chair in a rather disagreeable tone. “Hear that you haven’t been obeying orders,” the doctor said. “Who’s giving me orders at my time of life?” The doctor drew up his chair and sat down close to the old man. “I’ve got a suggestion for you,” he said quietly. Old Ellsworth looked suspiciously over his eyeglasses. “What is it, more medicine, more automobile rides, more foolishness to keep me away from my office?”

“How would you like to take up art?” the doctor had his stethoscope ready in case the suddenness of the suggestion proved too much for the patient’s heart. But the old man’s answer was a strong “Foolishness!” “I don’t mean seriously,” said the doctor, relieved that nothing had happened. “Just play around with chalk and crayons. It’ll be fun.” “Foolishness!” “All right.” The doctor stood up. “I just suggested it, that’s all.” Collis P. paused a moment. The wrinkles in his forehead deepened a little. “Where’d you get this crazy idea, any way?” “Well, it’s only a suggestion-” “But, Caswell, how do I start playing with the chalk – that is, if I’m foolish enough to start?” “I’ve thought of that, too. I can get a student from one of the art schools to come here once a week and show you. If you don’t like it after a while, you can throw him out.” Doctor Caswell went to his friend, Judson Livingston, head of the Atlantic Art Institute, and explained the situation. Livingston had just the young man – Frank Swain, eighteen years old and an excellent student. He needed the money. He ran an elevator at night to pay for his schooling. How much would he get? Five dollars a visit. Fine. The next afternoon young Swain was shown into the big living room. Collis p. Ellsworth looked at him suspiciously. Swain arranged some paper and crayons on the table. “let’s try and drew that vase over there on the table,” he suggested. “What for? It’s only a bowl with some blue stains on it. Or are they green?” “Try it, Mr. Ellsworth, please.” “Umph!” The old man took a piece of crayon in a shaky hand and drew several lines. He drew several more and then connected these crudely. “There it is, young man,” he said with a tone of satisfaction. “Such foolishness!” Frank Swain was patient. He needed the five dollars. “f you want to draw you will have to look at what you’re drawing, sir.” Ellsworth looked. “Gosh, it’s rather pretty. I never noticed it before.”

ART FOR HEART’S SAKE

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Koppel came in with the announcement that his patient had done enough for the first lesson. “Oh, it’s pineapple juice again,” Ellsworth said. Swain left. Comprehension and Discussion Questions 1. Where does this story take place? 2. How old is Mr. Ellsworth? 3. Why is he under a doctor’s care? 4. Is he an agreeable or disagreeable man? 5. What does Dr Caswell want him to try? 6. Why does Dr. Caswell want Ellsworth to

take up art? 7. Who is Frank Swain? 8. What does he do? 9. How is he paying for his schooling? 10. How much is he paid to teach Ellsworth

how to draw? PART II When the art student came the following week, there was a drawing on the table that had a slight resemblance to a vase. The wrinkles deepened at the corners of the old gentleman’s eyes as he asked, “Well, what do you think of it?” “Not bad, sir,” answered Swain. “But it’s not quite straight.” “Gosh,” old Ellsworth smiled, “I see. The halves don’t match.” He added a few lines with a shaking hand and colored the open spaces blue like a child plying with a picture book. Then he looked towards the door. “Listen, young man,” he whispered, “I want to ask you something before old pineapple juice comes back.” “Yes, sir,” answered Swain politely. “I was thinking – do you have the time to come twice a week or perhaps there times?” “Sure, Mr. Ellsworth,” “Good. Let’s make it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Four o’clock.” Koppel entered and was greatly surprised when his patient took his pineapple juice without protest. As the weeks went by Swain’s visits grew more frequent. He brought the old man a box of water colors and some tubes of oils. When Doctor Caswell called, Ellsworth would talk about the graceful lines of the chimney.

He would mention something about the rich variety of color in a bowl of fruit. He proudly showed the various stains of paint on his dressing gown. He would not allow his servant to send it to the cleaner’s. he wanted to show the doctor how hard he’d been working. The treatment was working perfectly. No more trips downtown to his office for the purpose of buying some business that was to fail later. No more crazy financial plans to try the strength of his tired old heart. Art was a complete cure for him. The doctor thought it safe to allow Ellsworth to visit the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and other exhibitions with Swain. An entirely new world opened up its mysteries to him. The old man showed a tremendous curiosity in the art galleries and in the painters who exhibited in them. How were the galleries run? Who selected the pictures for the exhibitions? An idea was forming in his brain. When the late spring began to cover the fields and gardens with color Ellsworth painted a simply horrible picture which he called, “Trees Dressed in White.” Then he made a surprising announcement. He was going to exhibit the picture in the summer show at the Lathrop Gallery. For the summer show at the Lathrop Gallery was the biggest art exhibition of the year –in quality, if not in size. States was a prize from this exhibition. Among the paintings of this distinguished group of artist Ellsworth was now going to place his “Trees Dressed in While”, which resembled a handful of salad dressing thrown violently against the side of a house. “If the newspapers hears hear about this, everyone in town will be laughing at Mr. Ellsworth. We’ve got to stop him,” said Koppel. “No,” warned the doctor. “We can’t interfere with him how and take a chance of ruining all the good work which we have done.” To the complete surprise of all three – and especially Swain- “Trees Dressed in White” was accepted for the Lathrop show. Not only was Mr. Ellsworth crazy, thought Koppel, but the Lathrop Gallery was crazy, too. Fortunately the painting was hung in an inconspicuous place where it did not draw any special notice or comment. Young Swain

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slipped into the museum one afternoon and blushed to the top of his ears when he saw “Trees Dressed in White,” a loud, ugly picture on a wall otherwise covered with paintings of beauty and harmony. As two laughing students stopped before the strange picture Swain left hurriedly. He could not bear to hear what they had they had to say. During the course of the exhibition the old man kept on taking lessons, seldom mentioning his picture in the exhibition. He was unusually cheerful. Every time Swain entered the room he found Ellsworth laughing to himself. Maybe Koppel was right. The old man was crazy. But it seemed equally strange that the Lathrop committee should encourage his craziness by accepting his picture. Two days before the close of the exhibition a special messenger brought a long official-looking envelope to Mr. Ellsworth while Swain, Koppel, and the doctor were in the room. “Read it to me.” Said the old man. “My eyes are tired from painting.” It gives the Lathrop Gallery great pleasure to announce that the First Prize of $1,000 has been awarded to Collis P. Ellsworth for his painting, “Trees Dressed in White.” Swain and Koppel were so surprised that they could not say a word. Doctor Caswell, exercising his professional self-control with a supreme effort, said: “Congratulations, Mr. Ellsworth. Fine, fine… Off course, I didn’t expect such great news. But, but – well, now, you’ll have to admit that art is much more satisfying than business.” “Art has nothing to do with it,” said the old man sharply. “I bought-the Lathrop Gallery last month.” Comprehension and Discussion Questions 1. Did Mr. Ellsworth become interested in

art? 2. What did he begin to visit? 3. What did he become very curious about? 4. What did Ellsworth call his picture? 5. Where did he decide to exhibit it? 6. What did his picture resemble? 7. Was his picture accepted? 8. Was this acceptance a surprise? 9. Whose picture won first prize at the

Lathrop Gallery? 10. Why did Mr. Ellsworth’s picture win?

Vocabulary and Idiom Review A. Match the word in the left-hand column with the word in the right-hand column which has the SAME meaning: 1. wealthy ____________bear 2. crazy ____________ambitious 3. stand ____________opportunity 4. keep on ____________unhappy 5. chance ____________ended 6. automobile ____________car 7. handsome ____________rich 8. over ____________continue 9. sad ____________uninteresting 10. dull ____________good-looking ____________insane B. Use the following expressions in sentences of your own: 1. be in good shape

8. run an elevator

2. keep away from

9. take a chance

3. go by 10.keep on doing something

4. hear about 11.have nothing to do with

5. have to 12.have something to do with

6. have got to 13.in case 7. play around with

14.in case of

C. The prefixes un-, in-, im-, il-, and dis- are used with adjectives and adverbs to give a negative or opposite meaning.

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PARENTS AND CHILDEN

Reading A Pair work Discuss these questions. Then read the article, and compare your ideas the author’s. 1. Look at the title of the article. What do

you think it’s going to be about? 2. Do you think parents should be strict with

their children?

UPSIDE-DOWN FAMILIES The parents set the rules and the children obey, right? Wrong. In a growing number of North American families, adults have let their children take over. “Parents want to be nurturing and make their small children happy, but many have become confused about the best way to achieve this,” explains a noted child psychologist. “Large numbers of parents are being controlled by their child, to the point that entire families end up organizing themselves around a small child’s emotions.” The problem is that many mothers and fathers try to be a friend to their children. However, parenting is not a popularity contest. Challenging authority is a normal part of child development and is strongest between the ages of four and six. Setting rules and enforcing them teaches the child that he or she is equal in worth but not equal in authority. Then the child feels safe and secure and can be a kid again. Believe it or not, it’s frightening for children to realize they are in charge of a situation. In upside-down families, when parents back down from rules they set, children become very insecure, anxious, and out of control. They don’t trust their parents to protect them. Parents should follow these tips to avoid this situation and keep control. • Be a leader. Parents cannot guide a child

and seek his or her approval of their decisions at the same time. Don’t say, “It’s time for bed. OK?” Instead, say, “It’s time for bed, kids.”

• Don’t make rules quickly and then change them. It’s very important to be consistent. Once you make a rule, stick to it.

• Pay less attention to your children when their behavior is bad and more when it is good. Do not reward bad behavior by

giving extra attention to it. Instead, save your attention for when the child acts appropriately.

• Don’t allow your kids to call you by your first name. This removes the authority figure in a child’s life. Children need parents, not another friend.

B Pair work Which of these statements would the author agree with? Which ones do you agree with? 1. Children don’t usually challenge authority. 2. Children like to feel that they are in charge. 3. It’s important for parents to discipline children. 4. Parents should be leaders, not friends. C Group work Discuss these questions. Then share your answers with the class. 1. Children don’t usually challenge authority. 2. Will you use the same rules in raising your

children?

YOUR ENERGY PROFILE

1. Starting Point A Read these statements. Which of these people are you most similar to? As soon as I wake up in the morning. I get dressed and race off to work. Mornings are when I’m at my best. I guess I’m an “early bird.” -Cecilia, from Brazil

Until I’ve had several cups of coffee, breakfast, and a long shower, I don’t feel really awake. I’m definitely not an “early bird.” -Tetsuo, from Japan

I always feel sleepy around 4:00 in the afternoon while I’m working at the office! But if I can sneak a short nap, I can work for several more hours. I’m a “catnapper.” -Jennifer, from the U.S.

I don’t get much done during the day, but I get a spurt of energy in the late afternoon and can concentrate until after midnight. I’m a real “night owl.” -Yuri, from Russia

B Pair work What’s the best time of day for you to do the following things? Complete the chart end then compare with partner.

WHAT’S YOUR BEST TIME OF DAY?

PASSAGES

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WHEN THE MIND AND BODY ARE AT THEIR BEST

A: I always study for an exam at night. It’s really quiet after everyone else has gone to sleep. B: I try to study for an exam as soon as I get up. That’s when I’m most alert. 2. DISCUSSION

Pair work Read this information. Do you agree with the advice given? Why or why not? Does this information make you think differently about your answers in Exercise 1B?

• When you need to

study for a test, do it between 9:00 A.M. and noon. It’s the best time to try to remember information you’ll need to use very soon.

• Energy levels dip between 2:00 and 4:00 P.M. As soon as your energy level falls, try to take a short nap. If that’s impossible, just relax.

• Study languages in the early afternoon. This is the best time of day to learn something you want to remember for a long time.

• You’re most energetic between the hours of 6:00 and 9:00 P.M. This is another good time to do something that requires concentration.

• Whenever you have

to work with numbers, plan to do it around noon. Your brain is most alert at this time.

• Your mind and body are sleepiest at 4:00 A.M. This is why it’s not a good idea to stay up studying all night. Wait until morning.

THE TIME IS RIGHT