Assignment No. 3
Total Marks: 15
Objective:
To improve students’ awareness of the course and to prepare them for the practical usage of English language
To enhance and examine students’ reading comprehension skills and conceptual knowledge
To assess students’ knowledge of writing skills
Instructions:
Late assignments will not be accepted.
If the file is corrupt or problematic, it will be marked zero.
Plagiarism will never be tolerated. Plagiarism occurs when a student uses work done by someone else as if it was his or her own; however, taking the ideas from different sources and to express it in your own words will be accepted.
No assignment will be accepted via e-mail.
The file should be in Word doc form; the font color should be preferably black and font size can be 12 Times New Roman.
Q 1: Read the following text and choose the best answers given below. (10)
Have you ever wondered why authors write? Sometimes they are inspired to create stories. Other times they write to provide information about an interesting topic. Some authors write to convince us about something. Whatever the circumstances, authors have reasons for writing; this is called, the “author’s purpose.” The three most common types of author’s purpose are: to entertain, to inform, and to persuade.
Think about the last time a story made you laugh, cry, or tremble with fright. These types of stories are written with a particular purpose in mind: to entertain the reader. Authors write many kinds of stories to entertain, including humorous fiction, realistic fiction, fantasy, fairy tales, and fables. While fiction entertains, non-fiction has a different purpose.
Many non-fiction writings or texts are written with the purpose of giving information about an interesting topic. Authors who write to inform must research their subject to ensure that they convey accurate information to the reader. Some examples of texts that inform are encyclopedia entries, news articles, expository non-fiction books, and interviews. All of these types of writing give information about certain topics.
Sometimes authors write because they want to convince their readers about something. This is called argumentative or persuasive writing. Oftentimes, texts that are meant to persuade use specific techniques to make the reader care about the subject, and to think about it in a certain way. These techniques might be found in letters to the editor, argumentative essays, or persuasive speeches.
Next time you read a text, see if you can figure what the author is trying to tell you. It might be easier than you think. Just ask yourself: what is the author’s purpose?
1. Which of the following is most likely to be the title of a passage in which the author’s purpose is to entertain?
Why Dogs are Smarter than Cats
An Interview with J.K. Rowling
The Adventures of Waldo Wizard
An Argument for Shorter Classes
2. According to the passage, authors who write to inform want to
provide information about a certain topic
make the reader laugh, cry, or scream
convince the reader to do something
invite the reader to critique their work
3. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is
to persuade
to convince
to entertain
to inform
4. According to the passage, texts that are meant to persuade often
do not get as much attention as texts that entertain or inform
are very entertaining because they convince readers to laugh
use specific techniques to make the reader care about the subject
require a lot of research in order to ensure accuracy of information
5. Based on its use in paragraph 3, it can be understood that the word convey belongs to which of the following word groups?
document, chronicle, note
communicate, pass on, relay
hide, obscure, cover
detect, locate, discover
Q2: ‘Idioms make language more interesting.’ Consider the following idiomatic picture, and make an interesting short story of the following that makes meaning of the idiom clear. (Mark 5)
1. Which of the following is most likely to be the title of a passage in which the author’s purpose is to entertain?
Why Dogs are Smarter than Cats
An Interview with J.K. Rowling
The Adventures of Waldo Wizard
An Argument for Shorter Classes
Answer: C
Question Type: Global
In paragraph 2, the author writes, “Authors write many kinds of stories to entertain, including humorous fiction, realistic fiction,
fantasy, fairy tales, and fables.” We can tell that a passage titled The Adventures of Waldo Wizard is a fantasy story, fable, or a fairy
tale. The word adventure lets us know this is a story, and since wizards are not real, we can tell that this story could be classified as
a fantasy, fairy tale or fable. Since the author writes that these types of stories entertain, we can tell that The Adventures of Waldo
Wizard is most likely the title of a passage in which the author’s main purpose is to entertain. This means (C) is correct. We can tell
that the title Why Dogs are Smarter than Cats is making an argument. This is because the author seems to believe that dogs are
smarter than cats. The title indicates that the author will make this argument in the rest of the passage. This lets us know that this
would be the title of a passage in which the author’s main purpose is to persuade, not to entertain. Therefore (A) is incorrect. In
paragraph 3, the author writes, “Some examples of texts that inform are encyclopedia entries, news articles, expository non-fiction
books, and interviews.” Using this information, we can tell that a passage titled An Interview with J.K. Rowling is an interview, which
means that the author’s purpose is to inform. This means that An Interview with J.K. Rowling is not the title of a passage in which
the author’s main purpose is to entertain, so (B) is incorrect. We can tell that the title An Argument for Shorter Classes is meant to
argue, or persuade, because the phrase, an argument, in the title lets us know that this passage will make an argument. Using this
information, we can tell that An Argument for Shorter Classes is not the title of a passage in which the author’s main purpose is to
entertain. This means (D) is incorrect.
2. According to the passage, authors who write to inform want to
provide information about a certain topic
make the reader laugh, cry, or scream
convince the reader to do something
invite the reader to critique their work
Answer : A
Question Type: Detail
To answer this detail question correctly, we need to find where the author discusses writing to inform in the passage. A good way to
do this is to scan the topic sentence of each paragraph, since this sentence will likely tell us what information can be found in the
rest of that paragraph. The topic sentence of paragraph 3 reads: "Many non-fiction writings or texts are written with the purpose of
giving information about an interesting topic." This lets us know that the details we are looking for can likely be found in paragraph 3.
In paragraph 3, the author writes, “All of these types of writing give information about certain topics.” Since the “types of writing” the
author is referring to here are meant to inform, we can tell that authors who write to inform want to provide information about a
certain topic. Therefore (A) is correct. In paragraph 2, the author writes, “Think about the last time a story made you laugh, cry, or
tremble with fright. These types of stories are written…to entertain the reader.” This lets us know that authors who write to inform do
not necessarily want to make the reader laugh, cry, or scream. This means (B) is incorrect. In paragraph 4, the author writes,
“Sometimes authors write because they want to convince their readers about something. This is called argumentative, or
persuasive, writing.” This lets us know that authors who write to inform do not necessarily want to convince the reader to do
something. Therefore (C) is incorrect. The passage does not provide any information to support choice (D). Therefore it is incorrect.
3. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is
to persuade
to convince
to entertain
to inform
Answer: D
Question Type: Global
At the end of paragraph 1, the author writes, “Whatever the circumstances, authors have reasons for writing; this is called, the
‘author’s purpose.’ The three most common types of author’s purpose are: to entertain, to inform, and to persuade.” This lets us
know that the author will explain the concept of “author’s purpose” in this passage. In the next three paragraphs, the author informs
us about each of the three types of author’s purpose mentioned in the quotation above. In paragraph 3, the author writes, “Many
non-fiction writings or texts are written with the purpose of giving information [or to inform the reader] about an interesting topic.”
Since the author informs us about “author’s purpose” in this passage, we can tell that the author’s purpose in writing this passage is
to inform, so (D) is correct. If the author’s purpose in writing this passage was to persuade, we would be able to identify an argument
made in this passage. Since the author is not making an argument, or trying to convince us of anything—instead, he or she is
informing us—we can tell that the author’s purpose in writing this passage is not to persuade. This means (A) is incorrect. If the
author’s purpose in writing this passage was to convince, we should be able to identify something that the author is trying to
convince us of. Since the author never tries to convince us of anything—instead, he or she informs us—we can tell that the author’s
purpose in writing this passage is not to convince. Therefore (B) is incorrect. If the author’s purpose in writing this passage was to
entertain, this passage would most likely be a story, instead of nonfiction. It would have the purpose of making us “laugh, cry, or
tremble with fright.” Since this passage does not do this, we can tell that the author’s purpose in writing it is not to entertain. This
means (C) is incorrect.
4. According to the passage, texts that are meant to persuade often
do not get as much attention as texts that entertain or inform
are very entertaining because they convince readers to laugh
use specific techniques to make the reader care about the subject
require a lot of research in order to ensure accuracy of information
Answer: C
Question Type: Detail
To answer this detail question correctly, we need to find where the author discusses writing to persuade in the passage. A good way
to do this is to scan the topic sentence of each paragraph, since this sentence will likely tell us what information can be found in the
rest of that paragraph. The topic sentence of paragraph 4 reads: "Sometimes authors write because they want to convince their
readers about something." Since we know that convincing and persuading are similar, this lets us know that the details we are
looking for can likely be found in paragraph 4. In paragraph 4, the author writes, “Oftentimes, texts that are meant to persuade use
specific techniques to make the reader care about the subject, and to think about it in a certain way.” This lets us know that texts
that are meant to persuade often use specific techniques to make the reader care about the subject. Therefore (C) is correct. The
passage does not provide information to support choices (A), (B), or (D). Therefore they are incorrect.
5. Based on its use in paragraph 3, it can be understood that the word convey belongs to which of the following word groups?
document, chronicle, note
communicate, pass on, relay
hide, obscure, cover
detect, locate, discover
Answer: B
Question Type: Vocabulary
convey (verb): to make an idea, impression, or feeling known or understandable to someone.
In paragraph 3, the author writes, “Authors who write to inform must research their subject to ensure that they convey accurate
information to the reader.” We can use context clues—hints from known words or phrases around the unknown word or phrase—to
help us figure out what convey most nearly means. If authors who write to inform must research their subject so that they convey
accurate information to the reader, we can tell that convey must mean something like to pass on, or make something known,
because authors write so that readers get the story or information they are writing about. Using this information, we can tell that we
are looking for the word group that contains words that mean something like to make an idea, information, or story known to
someone else. Communicate, pass on, and relay all mean to make an idea, information, or story known to someone else. This lets
us know that convey belongs to the word group containing these words, and (B) is correct. Using the above information, we can tell
that convey means to make an idea, information, or a story known to someone else. Document, chronicle, and note mean to write
down or tell something for personal use. They do not necessarily mean to pass on to someone else. Because these words do not
have definitions that imply another person, but convey does, we can tell that convey does not belong to the word group containing
document, chronicle, and describe. Therefore (A) is incorrect. Using the above information, we can tell that convey means to make
an idea, information, or a story known to someone else. Hide, obscure, and cover all mean to keep from someone else, which is
almost the opposite of convey. This lets us know that convey does not belong to the word group containing these words, and (C) is
incorrect. Using the above information, we can tell that convey means to make an idea, information, or a story known to someone
lse. Detect, locate, and discover all have to do with finding something out, and they do not necessarily require another person like it
does to convey something. This lets us know that convey does not belong to the word group containing detect, locate, and discover.
Therefore (D) is incorrect.