UNIT 1: OVERVIEW ON READING SKILLS AND REVIEW OF TENSES Objectives: 1.To get general ideas of reading skills 2.To learn tenses used to express ideas in a text

I. Reading and Reading Comprehension 1) What is reading comprehension? 2) What do we read? 3) Why do we read? 4) How do we read? 5) What skills does reading involve?

I. Reading and Reading Comprehension 1) What is reading comprehension? Understanding text as efficiently as possible for different purposes 2) What do we read? Novels, short stories; other literary texts and passages (e.g. essays, diaries, anecdotes, biographies) Newspapers and magazines Handbooks, textbooks, guidebooks Statistics, diagrams, flow / pie charts, time-tables, map Others 3) Why do we read? Reading for pleasure Reading for information (in order to find out something or in order to do something with the information you get)

4) How do we read? Skimming: quickly running ones eyes over a text to get the gist of it. Scanning: quickly going through a text to find a particular piece of information. Extensive reading: reading longer texts, usually for ones 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.

5) What skills does reading involve? Skimming to find the topic and the main idea of a passage Scanning to find specific pieces of information intended Finding referents Guessing meanings of unknown words Understanding particular text organizations Reading tables and graphs Transferring information and understanding transitional markers Distinguishing facts from opinions

Grammatical Skills Necessary for Reading Noun Phrase Noun Clause Expletive There and It Adjective Clause Modal Auxiliaries

Practice in Skimming Text 1. Study the following paragraph to find the main idea So far, physicists have discovered what they believe to be four and only four basic kinds of forces in all of nature. These forces or interactions are responsible for all the phenomena we observe, even with very complex and sophisticated apparatus. The four fundamental forces are gravitational, electromagnetic, weak interaction (responsible for radioactive decay) and the strong interaction which binds protons and neutrons together in nuclei.

Text 2 Read and find the main idea of the paragraph There is another point beside the strict definitions of the terms that scientist find very important to stress to make communication easier. This is the question of units. Suppose I wish to measure the length of a table top. I could lay down an inch ruler and find, perhaps, that the table measured 60 in. (inches). But if I used a centimeter ruler I would find that the same table top measured 152 cm (centimeters). So it is with any physical quantity, length, mass, force, or work. The numerical amount of the particular physical quantity depends on the units we use. It is therefore important to know and use the correct units for the different quantities we discuss and to know the relation between them.

Guessing Meaning from Context a. Increasing Your Awareness of Context Can you guess what the boldfaced words mean? Choose the best option. 1. The rock singer was very popular. A crowd was waiting at the park to listen to her songs. Crowd means a lot of / a few people. 2. Betty is a curious little girl. She always asks a lot of questions. A curious person doesnt want/wants to know many things. 3. There are many ships near our city, so there is a lot of tar in the water. When there is tar in the water, the water is dirty/clean. 4. I helped my friend in math. He was very grateful. He thanked me again and again The word that helps us understand grateful is friend / thanked. 5. He ate large amounts of food, so he got very fat. Large amounts of food is a little/a lot of food.

b. Definition Provide Easy Access to New Vocabulary 1.Camouflage, or protective coloring, helps an animal hide. 2.Motivationthat is, the willingness to actis the secret to a successful career 3.A motorbike, sometimes called a motor scooter, is an important means of transportation in many countries. 4.Literacy, defined as the ability to read with understanding, is a concern for most educators 5.Mountaineering, the sport of climbing mountains, is a very popular sport in many countries Look at the following sentences. Find the definition and the word that is being defined. Do you understand what the word means?

c. Restatements, Examples, and Explanations 1.A sledge is used to carry people and goods in the snow. 2.He is a loner; he invites no one and keeps his address a secret. 3.To build the new club, they pooled their resources, each giving a small sum of money. 4.She likes warm colors such as red, scarlet, and vermilion 5.This knife is so blunt that it does not cut at all

A. Focusing on Logical Connectors Complete the following sentences –We took an umbrella because …………. –He decided to postpone his holiday because……… –When he heard the news, he ………… –His salary is low; however, ………… –You may watch television now. However,………..

D. Awareness of the Function of Reference Words I lose so many things that Im sure they (things) just get up and walk away. I am jealous of people who are so orderly that they never lose anything. I hate comparing myself to them (orderly people) Pens and pencils are never there when I need them (……………………..). I try to keep a pen near the telephone so that I will use it (………) when the phone rings. But it (……….) is never there (………………………) when I need it. The situation was getting so bad that I decided to do something about it. I bought a large cupboard with a number of shelves. I then put ten boxes on them (……………………….). I put a label on each box; one (………..) I labeled Pens and Pencils, another (………………) I labeled Tools, another Needles and Pins. Replace the boldfaced words will the words to which they refer. The first paragraph is done as an example.

What are tenses? Tenses are verb forms indicating the time of an activity Study the underlined verb in each of the following sentences and its time marker if there is any. 1.For the last three hundred years, newspapers have played an important role. 2.As recently as the middle of the 1980s, there were about 1,800 daily newspapers. 3.It is true that American newspapers are changing. 4.Television brings information to homes much more quickly. 5.The newspaper is much more popular today.

Progressive (Continuous) Tenses At 3 o clock I was still waiting for the bus. I was writing some letters when someone threw a brick through the window. I am studying Chinese at the moment. I will be waiting at the canteen when you arrive. At 3 o clock I was still waiting for the bus. I was writing some letters when someone threw a brick through the window. I am studying Chinese at the moment. I will be waiting at the canteen when you arrive. (For action/process which is ongoing at a given time )

The Simple Tenses Past: I lived in the North when I was a child ( a completed action at a given time or within a given period in the past ) Present: He smokes too much ( a continuous or repeated action spanning the present ) Future: I will come and help you on Sunday morning ( a predicted or promised complete action in the future )

Verbs rarely or never used in continuous forms Contain, comprise, include, resemble, seem, belong, own. Think : –what do you think of the plans for education? (option) –what are you thinking about? (action of the mind) Have : – I have (got) a new typewriter. (possession) –Hes having a shower. (action) Taste/smell : –The stew tastes of garlic. (state) –Im just tasting the wine. (action) See : –I see your point. (understand) –Hes seeing the bank manager tomorrow. (meeting)

The perfect tenses The present perfect : –My cousin has been learning English for two weeks. (a period of time up to the present) –He has just started to learn the past tense. (an action completed before the present) The past perfect : –When I spoke to him, he had been working on the book for two months. (a period of time up to a point in the past) –He had finished nine chapters. (an action completed before a point in the past)

The future perfect : –By the end of year, I will have been working on the project for nine months. (a period of time up to a point in the future) –I will have finished the necessary research by then. (an action completed before a point in the future)

Exercise on tenses 1.It rains nearly everyday in winter. 2.When we were children, we usually went to the seaside for our summer holidays. 3.I have often thought of changing my job. 4.She was tired, because she had been traveling all day. 5.I asked her to come out for a drink, but she was working, so she couldnt. 6.Do you know that Phil has written a novel? 7.You look hot. Ive been playing tennis.

Present perfect or past simple? 1.There …. (be) two world wars in the first half of this century. 2.I …. (never see) such an exciting film. 3.….you… (fly) in a propeller plane? 4.Who … (win) the match this afternoon? 5.Gandhi… (lead) the people of India to independence. 6.I ….(do) a weeks work in the last 24 hours. 7.Earth … (see) many significant climatic changes. 8.He … (phone) before I …. (leave) for work.