UNIT 1:UNIT 1: OVERVIEW ON READING OVERVIEW ON READING SKILLS AND REVIEW OF SKILLS AND REVIEW OF

TENSESTENSES

Objectives:Objectives:1.1. To get general ideas of reading To get general ideas of reading

skillsskills2.2. To learn tenses used to To learn tenses used to

express ideas in a textexpress ideas in a text

I. Reading and Reading I. Reading and Reading ComprehensionComprehension

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 I. Reading and Reading ComprehensionComprehension

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?4) How do we read?

• Skimming: quickly running one’s 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 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.

5) What skills does reading 5) What skills does reading involve? 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 Grammatical Skills Necessary for ReadingReading

• Noun Phrase

• Noun Clause

• Expletive There and It

• Adjective Clause

• Modal Auxiliaries

Practice in SkimmingPractice in SkimmingText 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 ContextGuessing 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 doesn’t 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 againThe 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 Newb. Definition Provide Easy Access to New Vocabulary Vocabulary

1. Camouflage, or protective coloring, helps an animal hide.

2. Motivation—that is, the willingness to act—is 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 Explanationsc. 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.A.      Focusing on Logical ConnectorsFocusing 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 D. Awareness of the Function of Reference WordsWords

• I lose so many things that I’m 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 Replace the boldfaced words will the words to which they refer. The first words to which they refer. The first paragraph is done as an example.paragraph is done as an example.

What are tenses?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 1980’s, 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) TensesProgressive (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 TensesThe 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 Verbs rarely or never used in continuous formscontinuous 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)– He’s having a shower. (action)

• Taste/smell :– The stew tastes of garlic. (state)– I’m just tasting the wine. (action)

• See :– I see your point. (understand)– He’s seeing the bank manager tomorrow. (meeting)

The perfect tensesThe 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 tensesExercise 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 couldn’t.

6. Do you know that Phil has written a novel?

7. ‘You look hot.’ ‘I’ve been playing tennis’.

Present perfect or past simple?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 week’s work in the last 24 hours.7. Earth … (see) many significant climatic

changes.8. He … (phone) before I …. (leave) for work.