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978-0-521-16526-6 – Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate
Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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1 Choices and implications
Unit aims
READING
•Researchingtextsforessays
•Skimmingandscanning
•Identifyingthesequenceofideas
•Understandingimplicitmeanings
•Inferringthemeaningofwords
•Vocabularybuilding:adjectives
LISTENING AND SPEAKING
•Introducingpresentationsandclarifyingkeyterms
WRITING
•Understandingessayorganisation
•Draftinganessayintroduction
•Commonknowledge
Reading
1
Researching texts for essays
1.1aFocusstudentsontheessaytitleandaskwhatthey
thinktheessay’spurposeis(toidentifytherelevant
factorswhichaffectpeople’schoiceofcareers;to
providerelevantsupportingevidence,suchascase
studies,researchandsurveys;toevaluatehow
importantthevariousfactorsare–i.e.whichfactors
aremorerelevantthanothers).
Focusstudentsonthefourtexttypesandaskthem
tosuggestfeatureswhicharecharacteristicofeach,
e.g.:
–an academic textbook:formallanguageand
structure,appropriatetitle,respectedauthorand
publisher
–a general information website: websitename,a‘dot
com’suffix,unknownauthor,wikifeature
– a company website:a‘dotcom’suffix;lessformal
language,focusonsellingaproductratherthan
research
–a research article:specificstructure(e.g.
methodology–results–discussion),academic
language
Studentstrytomatchthetexttypestothesources
ofinformation.Iftheyarefindingthisdifficult,usethe
informationabovetoguidethemtowardsananswer.
bStudentschecktheiranswersto1.1a.
1
2
3
4
A
B
D
C
cGuidestudentstowardsthefollowingcriteria,which
canbeusedtodecidewhichsourcesareappropriate
foranacademicessay.
–audience:Whothetextisintendedfor?
– authority: Howqualifiedisthewriter?Isita
respectedpublisher?Hasthearticlebeenpeerreviewed(reviewedbyanotherexpert)?
–time:Whenwasitwritten?Istheinformationstill
relevant?
– reliability:Hasitbeenalteredinanyway(or
censored)?Istheauthorbiasedorneutral?
SourcesAandCaremuchmorelikelytobe
acceptable.Theyhaveauthorityandarelikelytobe
morereliable.
Optionalextension
1 W
identhediscussiontodebatetheadvantagesof
usingtheinternetforacademicresearch(e.g.itis
quickandinexpensive,butitmaybelessreliableor
academic).
2 Askstudentstoevaluateanyinternetresourcesthey
haverecentlyusedforacademicpurposesandtosay
whytheywereappropriate.Theyprepareandgivea
shortpresentationinsmallgroupsortothewhole
classabouttheonlineresourcestheyuse.
1.2a Optionallead-in
Askstudentshowpoints1–6mightbeusedintheessay:
–summary of the current state of knowledge on the
topic:thiswouldshowtherelevanceofthetopictothe
reader;
–research papers on the topic:thiswouldprovidea
generaltheoreticalbackground;
–the latest statistics on the number of people in different
careers:thiswouldprovidesupportingevidence;
–definitions of specialist terms:thiswouldclarifycertain
wordsandexpressions;
–reports of the most up-to-date research:thiswould
providefreshinformationonthetopic;
– a personal view:perhapsthiswouldn’tbeusedinthe
essay(sinceitwouldhaveanarrowfocus),butitmight
informyourgeneralunderstandingofthetopic.
10 Unit 1 Choices and implications
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978-0-521-16526-6 – Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate
Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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1
2
3
4
5
6
textbooks,onlineencyclopediaentries,monographs
editedcollections
officialreports
textbooks,onlineencyclopediaentries,monographs
journals,monographs
blogs
Homeworkoption:internetresearch
Studentssearchtheinternetforotherwebsitesabout
careerchoicewhichcouldbecategorisedaccordingto
eachofthetexttypesin1.2b.Thiswouldalsoenable
youtocheckwhetheryourstudentsunderstandthe
differencesbetweentexttypes.
bStudentsevaluatethestrengthsandweaknessesof
thetexttypes.
blogs: Generallyspeaking,likeonlineencyclopedias,
thesemaybeaninterestingandusefulstarting
pointforresearch.
edited collections: Theseprovideusefulacademic
informationandagoodrangeofrelevant,
authoritativeideasonasubject.
journals:Theseareexcellentsourcesofacademic
information–uptodate,easytosearchand
usuallyfreethroughyourinstitution.
monographs: Theseareanappropriateacademic
source,butsincetheyareoftenfocusedat
experts,thelevelofknowledgerequiredmightbe
quitehigh.
official reports:Thesecanprovideusefulinformation
andaccuratestatistics,butifproducedby
governmentalagenciestheymaybesubjectiveand
biased(orevencensored).
online encyclopedia entries:Thesearenotappropriate
touseinyouressayasthereliabilityofthe
informationisquestionable.However,theymaybe
ausefulstartingpointandmayleadyoutomore
academictexts.
textbooks:Thesecanprovidegood,high-quality
academicinformation,butmaybetoogeneralfor
anacademicessay.
Alternative
/ Studentsrankthetexttypesinorderofrelevance
foracademicresearch.Theythendefendtheirrationale
withapartner.
1.3aAfterreadingtheintroductoryinformationabout
FeiHe,studentspredictwhattheanswertothe
questionswillbe.Thenplay 1.1 .Studentslistenand
checktheiranswers.
1 textbooks
2 monographs,onlinejournals
b
Studentsdiscusstheirownexperience.Get
feedbackfromtwoorthreestudents.
Languagenote
FeiHesays:‘…Ithinkstudentsarepassiveto[*]learn.’
Wewouldnormallysay:‘…Ithinkstudentsarepassive
learners.’
Hesays:‘Andstudentsseldomto[*]findpapers…’.
Wewouldnormallysay:‘…Andstudentsseldomfind
papers…’.
Healsosays:‘Butthisthingisdifferentin[*]British
university.’
Wewouldnormallysay:‘Butthis(thing)isdifferentto
Britishuniversities.’
2
Skimming and scanning
2.1
Optionallead-in
Askstudentsaboutthewaytheyread.Askthemabout
theirexperiencesinEnglishandintheirownlanguage.
–How would you look through a travel guide if you just
wanted specific information about the hotel you were
staying in?(youwouldscantheguide–lookingonlyfor
thenameofthehotel)
–How would you look through a newspaper if you just
wanted to check if there was anything you wanted to
read?(youwouldskimthenewspaper–notreading
everyword,focusingonthegeneralmessageofeach
article)
1
2
3
4
5
skim
scan
skim
skim
scan
2.2aElicitcriteriawhichmightbeusedtorankthetopics,
suchaspriority,need,cost,etc.Youmightwantto
suggeststrategiesforreachingagreement,suchas
changingyourmind(bylisteningtoabetterargument
proposedbysomebodyelse),negotiating(e.g.if you
place x higher than y, I’ll allow b to come before a),
conceding(yieldingonaparticularpointbecauseyou
arenotthatstronglyattachedtoit).
bGetfeedbackfromthewholeclass.
Unit 1 Choices and implications 11
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2.3 Elicitthebestwaytoidentifythemainideaofatext
(identifying‘high-value’partsofatext,suchasthe
title,subtitles,sentenceswhichrepresentthemain
idea,theintroductionandconclusion,andkeywords).
Giveatimelimitoftwominutestoskimthetextand
identifywhichsentenceisthecorrectanswer
5
5.1
3Identifying the sequence of ideas
3.1 Thistaskencouragesstudentstolookatatextin
moredetailandunderstandthelogicalprogression
ofideas.Askstudentstoreadalonebeforechecking
theiranswersinpairs.
4
3 a
7 b
4 f
8 g
5 h
Understanding implicit meanings
Explaintostudentsthattheyaregoingtolearnanew
strategywhichwillhelpthemdealwithunfamiliar
words.Explainthatlookingupnewwordsina
dictionarycanoftenbeatime-consumingprocess
(althoughcheckingafewwordswillnottakeupmuch
time,doingitregularlyandrepeatedlywill).Also
explaintheimportanceofguessingthemeaningfrom
context–dictionariescanonlyprovideageneral
explanationofaword,soguessingfromcontextis
morelikelytobeaccurate.Thisisausefulstrategy
forexamsandothersituationswhereadictionarymay
notbeavailable.
4.1aExplainthatindicatingconsequencesandreasonsare
animportantaspectofacademicEnglish.Elicitthe
meaningsofconsequenceandreason.
–consequence:theeffectofanaction
–reason:whysomethinghappened
Extract 1: thesecondsentenceistheconsequence
ofthesituationdescribedinthefirst,asindicated
bythelinkingdevice‘Asaresult’.
Extract 2: thesecondsentencegivesareasonwhy
nationalgovernmentsprioritiseallthetime.This
canbeinferredfromthecontentoftheindividual
sentences.
bElicitthemeaningsofexampleandexpansionin
relationtoacademicwriting.
– example:givingsupportingevidencetosupporta
moregeneraltheory
– expansion:givingmoredetails,particularlywhen
dealingwithcomplexissues
Extract 1: ‘example’–thesecondsentenceprovides
examplesofhowprogresshasbeenmade.
Extract 2: ‘contrast’–thesecondsentence
contraststhesituationofthe‘unlucky’oneswith
thatoftheminority‘lucky’ones.
Extract 3: ‘reason’–thesecondsentencegivesa
reasonwhygloballeaderscanrarelyanswerthe
question.
Extract 4: ‘expansion’–thesecondsentence
expandson(givesmoredetailsabout)whatis
meantby‘theworld’swoes’.
Optionallead-in
Asktheclasstobrainstormstrategiesforcheckingthe
meaningofunfamiliarwords.Writethemontheboard
(e.g.usingdictionaries,askinganotherstudentorthe
teacher,guessingthemeaningfromcontext,guessing
themeaningusingcluessuchasprefixes,suffixes,etc.).
Askstudentstoworkinpairsanddiscusshowoftenthey
usethesestrategies.
Whentheyhavefinished,pointoutthatguessing
meaningfromcontextandusingwordclueswillhelptheir
long-termEnglishdevelopment,inthatthesestrategies:
–increasethelikelihoodofrememberingtheword;
–increasethechancesofthewordbecomingactive(you
canproduceitandnotjustunderstandit);
–helpmakereadingquickerandmoreeffective.
sentence2
2 c
6 d
Inferring the meaning of words
Suggestedanswers
1 projectswhicharemostcost-efficient
2 negative
3 ‘dealwith’collocatesstronglywith‘problems’
and‘difficulties’(negativeideas)
4 ‘challenges’,‘problems’,‘issues’
5 endingpoverty,eliminatingethnicorracial
hatred,improvingmaternalhealth
5.2a Studentsworkthroughthewordsusingthestrategy
in5.1.Getfeedbackfromthewholeclass.Askthem
totalkyouthroughtheprocesstheywentthrough
beforearrivingattheiranswer.
1 c
2 a
3 b
b
remit–responsibilities
overt–open
Optionalextension
PHOTOCOPIABLE
Understandingimplicitmeanings,page138
(instructionspage,132)
12 Unit 1 Choices and implications
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Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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Optionalextension
Askstudentstofindthefollowingwordsinthetextin
2.3.Askthemwhatcluestheyhavewhichcouldhelp
themidentifythemeaning.
–universal(line6):fromthesamewordfamilyas
universe
–disproportionately(line7):dis=negativeprefix;
ly=adverbsuffix
–finite(line16):fromthesamefamilyasfinal/finish
–unsustainable(line22):un=negativeprefix;
able=adjectivesuffix
–communicable(line35):fromthesamewordfamilyas
communicate;able=adjectivesuffix
6
6.1
Listening and speaking
7
Introducing your presentation
7.1
Askstudentstobrainstormthekindofinformationwhich
theywouldexpectintheintroductionofapresentation
(e.g.overviewofmaintopics,generalbackground
information,rationale,importanceoftopic).
Optionallead-in
1
2
3
4
5
6
finite
straightforward
communicable
crucial
universal;assured
widespread;infinite
Optionalextension:strongerclasses
Askstudentstoexplainthedifferentconnotation
betweentheadjectivesusedin6.1andwhycertain
adjectivesusedmaybepreferableinacademicEnglish.
1 Finitesuggestsagreaterdegreeoffinalitythan
limited.
2 Straightforwardismorespecificthansimple.
3 Communicableisamoretechnicalword,andmore
precisethanpassed from one person to another–it
alsocollocatesstronglywithdiseases.
4 Crucialisapowerful,one-wordadjectiveratherthan
themorecomplicatedadverb+adjectiveextremely
important.
5 Universalcollocatesstronglywitheducation.Inthis
context,assuredsuggeststhatthefoodsupplyisnot
dependentonanythirdparty,whereasguaranteed
suggeststhemoresignificantroleofexternalfactors.
6 Among many people and in many placesisaclumsy
phraseandnotveryacademicsounding(peopleis
alsoquiteageneralterm).Infiniteisastrongerword
thanunlimited.
StudentslookatslidesAandBandpredictwhich
wordsgointhespaces.Play 1.2 .
Talk 1
proportional representation
alternative voting
first-past-the-post
Vocabulary building: adjectives
Elicitthefollowinginformationabouthowadjectives
work,specificallyinthecontextofacademicEnglish:
–theyprovideadditionalinformationaboutnouns;
–theyshouldbeusedinacademicEnglishonlywhen
theygenuinelyaddmeaningtothetext;
–theyusuallyprecedenouns(unlikeinmanylanguages).
Optionallead-in
Talk 2
income tax
sales tax
property tax
8
Clarifying key terms
8.1 Elicitthefollowinginformationaboutbasic
text-organisationprinciples:
–subject-verb-objectisthenormalwordorder;
–auxiliaryverbsusuallycomebeforemainverbs;
–prepositionsusuallycomebeforenouns;
–adjectivesusuallycomebeforenouns.
Studentstrytocompletethetalk,basedonthe
principlesoutlinedabove.Studentschecktheir
predictedanswerswithapartner.Thenplay 1.3 to
check.
2
3
4
5
hereI’llfocuson
Thisiswhen
What’smeantbythisisthat
Inotherwords
8.2a
b 2
c 3,4,5
b
a 7
b 6
c 8,9,10
Unit 1 Choices and implications 13
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Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-16526-6 – Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate
Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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Languagenote
Thefollowinglanguagefeaturesaregenerallyacceptable
inpresentations,butlesssoinacademicwriting:
–useofI(here I’ll focus on)
–useofpresentcontinuoustooutlineideas(I’m going to
highlight)
–contractions(That’s)
–cleftsentences(What’s meant by this is …)
–rhetoricalquestions(Why is this important?)
8.3a Optionallead-in
Drawahorizontallineontheboardandwrite
I speak without any notes at allatoneendand
I write out a whole scriptattheother.Askstudentsto
thinkaboutpresentationstheyhavegiven,andtodecide
whereonthelinetheywouldplacethemselves.
Getfeedbackfromthewholeclass.Explainthatstudents
shouldbeaimingtobeclosertoI speak without any
notes.However,thisstrategyisrisky(forgettingwhatyou
aregoingtosay,hesitatingwhenusingEnglish,lacking
confidence)soitisprobablybetteratthisstagetouse
notesandguidance.Explaintheproblemsofreadinga
wholescriptoutloud(itsoundslikeyouarereadingan
essay,thereislessspontaneity,lessengagementwith
theaudience).
b Studentsprepareashortpresentation(ofunderfive
minutes)basedontheslide.Encouragethemtouse
languagefrom8.1and8.2.
Optionalextension
Studentsperformtheirpresentationsagain,witha
differentpartner,attemptingtoimplementthefeedback
giventothem.Taskrepetitioncanhelpstudentsto
noticespecificimprovementsintheirperformance.
Studentsgivetheirpresentations.Eachlearnershould
listenactivelytotheotherpresentationandgive
feedbackattheend.
Writing
9
9.1
Understanding how essay types are organised
Optionallead-in
Writethefollowingessaytitlesontheboard:
1 Compare and contrast the position and powers of the
UK prime minister and the US president.
2 Discuss the relative merits of private and state-funded
education.
3 “Governments should be able to use prisoners as a
source of cheap labour.” Discuss.
Nowaskthesequestions.
– Which title is asking you to adopt a strong position and
to present evidence as to why this position is right? (3)
– Which title is asking you to show you have a good
general understanding of a particular topic, but not to
necessarily take a strong position? (1)
– Which title is asking you to present the different
viewpoints connected to a particular topic, and to assess
which one you tend to agree with? (2)
1 Discuss.Somepeopleconsidertheimpactof
shoppingcentrestobepositiveandothers
negative.Thequestionasksstudentstopresent
bothpositionsand,probably,statewhich
positiontheysupport.
2 Defend.Thequestionasksstudentseitherto
agreeortodisagreeandargueindefenceof
theirposition.
3 Describe.Thequestionasksstudentstodescribe
wayspolitenessisachievedinEnglishand
drawcomparisonsandcontrastswithhowthis
isdoneinanotherlanguage.Itisunlikelythat
therearedifferentpositionsonthisreportedin
theliterature,anditiscertainlyunnecessary
forthestudenttoarguefororagainstagiven
position.
4 Defend.Studentsareexpectedtosupportor
challengetheposition.Itislikelythattheywill
supportitandsotheessaywillbeanargument
sayingwhythisisareasonablepositiontotake.
5 Discuss.Itseemslikelythatthemediadoeshave
aninfluenceandtheessayshouldacknowledge
thisandprovideevidence.However,other
influencesshouldbepresented.
6 Describe.Thequestionasksstudentstolist
factorsanddescribethem.Itdoesn’task
studentstotakeaposition.
Note
The‘discuss’instructioninanessaymaybeusedwith
describe,discussordefendessays(asin3Discuss the
ways …).
14 Unit 1 Choices and implications
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Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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9.2
Optionallead-in
Askstudentstothinkabouthowtheythinkafullessay
ofeachtype(describe,defend,discuss)wouldbe
organised.Focustheirattentionontheintroduction,
mainbodyandconclusion.Ask:
– In which type of essay would there be a statement of
your position in the introduction? (defend)
– In which type of essay would you identify a number of
specific aspects in the introduction, and then go on to
explain each in more detail?(describe)
Studentscompletetheexercise.Getfeedbackfrom
thewholeclass.
1 introduction(Thisshouldbeclear,focusedand
direct.It’sgenerallyconsideredacceptableto
use‘I’.)
2 conclusion(Sentenceswhichrepresentthemain
ideascanbeausefulguidetoidentifyingyour
mainarguments.Ensurethatthequestionhas
beenanswered.)
3 body(Generalisationsgobeforeexamplesand
expansion.)
4 introduction(Thisprovidesausefulmapto
readers,sotheycanworktheirwaythroughyour
essay.Thepresentsimpleispreferredhere.)
5 introduction/body(Thisshouldonlydefinethe
keytermswhichareessentialforthereaderto
understand.)
6 body(Theevidenceshouldberelevantandwellchosen.)
7 conclusion(Itisbestnottosimplyrepeatthe
initialstatementofyourposition,butratherto
paraphraseanduseslightlydifferentlanguage.)
8 introduction(Itisimportanttoshowthatyou
havearoundedviewofthesubjectandtoshow
thereaderyourcompetence.)
Optionalextension
Givetheclassaparticulartopictailoredtotheirareas
ofstudy/interest.Askthemtowriteoneexampleof
eachtypeofessaytitle(defend,discuss,describe).An
exampleforthesubjectareaofEconomicsispresented
below.
– Describe: What are the main characteristics of neoliberalism?
– Discuss: Discuss the merits of the various approaches
taken by national governments to the 2007 credit crisis.
– Defend: Explain whether you think a neo-liberal or
Keynesian approach to economics is the best solution to
the current economic crisis.
Next,dividetheclassintothreegroups:‘defend’,
‘discuss’and‘describe’.Eachgroupshouldchoose
oneoftheessaytitlesandwriteabriefplanforit.This
willindicatewhetherthestudentshaveunderstoodthe
differencebetweenthedifferenttypesofessay.
9.3
Studentsreadthroughthesentencesandidentify
whichtypeofessayisrepresented.Getfeedback
fromthewholeclass.Elicitfromstudentstheirreason
forthischoice:
–phrasesindicatingcontrast(on the other hand);
–adverbs/adverbialphrasesindicatingadditional
points(too; in addition);
–neutral,objectivetone(it has been found; some
would argue; have been questioned);
–clearoutliningofdifferentpointsofview.
Itisa‘discuss’question.Thespecifictitleof
theessayisasfollows:Towhatextentshould
largeinternationalcompaniesmakeactingina
sociallyresponsiblemannermoreofaprioritythan
increasingtheirprofits?
Homeworkoption
Givestudentsoneinitialparagraphsentenceeachand
askthemtowriteashortparagraphbasedonit.Inthis
way,acompletediscuss-typeessaywillbecreatedby
theclass.
10 Drafting the introduction to an essay
10.1a Optionallead-in
Writetheseheadingsontheboard: Background,
Different views, Writer’s position. Elicitwhatkindof
languagecouldbeusedundereachheading.
– background:timephrases;generaloverview;adverbs
suchas generally, typically, commonly, etc.
– differentviews:linkingwordssuchas however, in
contrast, on the contrary, etc.
– writer’sposition:wordsandphrasessuchas I, in this
essay, argue, etc.
thebackground:1,2
arecognitionofdifferentviews:3,4
astatementofthewriter’sposition:5
Note
Somestudentsmaybefamiliarwiththeterm‘thesis
statement’.Thisissometimesdescribedasasentence
intheopeningparagraphinwhichthemainideaofthe
essayispresented.Inthisbook,wedonotusethisterm
becauseitcanbequitedifficultforstudentstoidentify
itprecisely.First,itcansometimesbedifficulttosay
exactlywhatthe‘mainideaoftheessay’isortopin
thisdowntoonesentenceintheintroduction.Second,
someusesof‘thesisstatement’suggestthatitcan
includesub-topicsthatwillbediscussedinthebody
oftheessay,andevenanindicationofthepatternof
organisationthattheessaywillfollow.Thismeans,then,
thatsometimesthewholeoftheopeningparagraph
mightbea‘thesisstatement’.
Unit 1 Choices and implications 15
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Instead,wewantstudentstotakeawaytheideathatin
manyessays,theywillneedtogivetheirownpositionon
thetopic,havingfirstpreparedthegroundintheopening
paragraphbygivingrelevantbackgroundinformation,
whichmightincludearecognitionofdifferentviews.They
shouldalsorecognisethatinsomedescriptiveessays,
theymaynotneedtogivetheirpositionatall.
b
line 3
line 4
line 5
thesecentres;they
their
they
Optionalextension
Thestructurethis/these+umbrellatermiscommon
inacademicwritingbutmaybeunfamiliartostudents.
Writethesesentencesontheboard.Askstudentstosay
asuitableumbrellatermforeachgapsothepassage
makessense.
10.4a Seethemodelansweronpage19.
b B
eforedoingthisactivity,emphasisethe
importanceofdraftingandredrafting.Thereare
manybenefits:
–improvingthelogicalrelationshipbetweenideas
inyourtext;
–ensuringthatyourpositionisconsistent
throughout;
–correctinganymistakeswhichmayhavebeen
made;
–checkingthatthereareno‘looseends’which
needtobecorrected.
11Language for writing: common knowledge
Optionallead-in
Checkthatstudentsunderstandthedifferencebetween
‘commonknowledge’andinformationwhichshouldbe
referenced.Askthemtodifferentiatebetweenthese
sentencesaboutMagnaCarta.
–Magna Carta was signed in the year 1215.(This
ishistoricalknowledge.Therefore,itiscommon
knowledgeanddoesnotneedtobereferenced.)
–Magna Carta was far from unique, either in content or
form.(Thisisaveryspecificpoint,whichsoundslike
someone’sspecificanalysis,andthereforeshouldbe
referenced.)
–Magna Carta has had a significant impact on the
American constitution.(Thispointisambiguous–it
couldbeconsideredcommonknowledge,itcould
beconsideredaspecificpoint.Wherethereisthis
ambiguity,studentsshouldbecautiousandreference
accordingly.)
–UNESCO is extremely important in this field. This
has provided millions of dollars of
funding. (organisation)
–Modules in History and Philosophy are available. These
count as credits towards your degree.
(subjects)
–Archaeology is important, although this
is declining in popularity in universities.(field)
–In political science, nationalism and patriotism are
important ideas. It is important to note that these
cannot be used interchangeably.(terms)
Otherumbrellatermswhichcouldbepresentedinclude:
institution,association,concept,method,mechanism,
topic,issueanddiscipline.
10.2Studentscompletetheactivity.Pointoutthatthe
sentenceshereareonlypartofafirstdraft.If
studentsfindtheactivitydifficult,ask:
– Can you see any signposting language which might
help?(e.g.however)
–Can you identify which sentence shows the writer’s
position?(b)
–Where in the passage does the writer’s position
normally come?(towardstheend)
2 c
3 e
4 a
5 g
6 d
7 b
Languagenote
Thestagesoftheintroductionareindicatedhere.
–background:f,c
–recognitionofdifferentviews:e,a,g,d
–statementofwriter’sposition:b
10.3Seethemodelansweronpage19.
11.1
1 b
2 c
3 a
11.2 Languagenote
Whenmakingstatementsof‘commonknowledge’in
academicwriting,weavoidassumingthatallpeople
havethesameview(soweavoidphrasessuchas
No-one can deny…,etc.).Wealsopreferimpersonal
topersonalconstructions(as is well-knownratherthan
most people know that).Thereareanumberofstructures
whichcanbeusedtoenablethis,suchasimpersonal
pronouns(one can see that …)andit-clauses
(it is widely/generally agreed ...;it is believed that...;it
has been claimed/said/suggested that ...).
1
2
3
4
5
Itiswidelyaccepted
Theconsensusviewisthat
Itisgenerallybelieved
Thereisbroadagreement
Asiswellknown
16 Unit 1 Choices and implications
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Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
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Corpusresearch
Focusonthecorpusbox,whichdemonstrateshow
commonthislanguageisinacademicwriting.Evidence
fromtheCambridgeCorpusofAcademicEnglishshows
thatthemostcommonadverbsareasfollows(most
frequentfirst):
– it is … generally; widely; now; commonly;
well … accepted
– it is … widely; generally; commonly; often … believed
11.3 Alternative
Studentsdonotrewritetheirownintroductions,buta
partner’s.Itissometimeseasiertoseethemistakesin
otherpeople’swritingthaninyourown.
Grammar and vocabulary
•Avoidingrepetition:that(of)andthose(of)
•Wordfamilies:linkingpartsofatext
•Verb–nouncollocations
1
1.1
Avoiding repetition: that (of) and those (of)
Languagenote
Wecanusethat oforthose of,oftenincomparisons,
toavoidrepetitionwherethatandthosearepronouns
standinginforanounphrase.Thatisusedtoreplace
uncountablenouns(e.g.population)andsingular
countablenouns(e.g.brain)whilethosereplacesplural
countablenouns(e.g.imports).Theiruseiscommonin
academicwriting,butrareinspeech.Theycanbeused
toincreasethecohesionanddecreaserepetitionina
text.
1 that=work
2 those=thepolicypriorities
1.2 Checkstudents’answersandgetfeedbackfromthe
wholeclass.Notethattheseareonlymodelanswers,
andotheranswersarepossible.
Suggestedanswers
1bThedensityofironismuchlessthanthatof
gold.
2aTheruralpopulationoftheUnitedKingdomis
morethanhalfofthatofFrance.
b TheruralpopulationofFranceismorethan
doublethatoftheUnitedKingdom.
3aHumanbrainsweighmuchlessthanthoseof
whales.
b Brainsofwhaleshaveaweightroughlyfour
timeslargerthanthoseofhumans.
4aThelifeexpectancyofanaverageweightmaleis
slightlymorethanthatofanoverweightmale.
b Thelifeexpectancyofanoverweightmaleisfive
yearslessthanthatofanormalweightmale.
Languagenote
Often,apossessiveforminsteadofthat/thoseofcanbe
used,particularlywhenthenounphrasereferstopeople.
Women’s average salaries have increased, although less
rapidly than men’s.
→ Women’s average salaries have increased, although less
rapidly than those of men.
However,thisislesscommoninacademicwritingthat
that/thoseof.
Unit 1 Choices and implications 17
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2
Word families: linking parts of texts
2.4
2.1 Highlighttheimportanceofwordfamilies(theycan
createlinksbetweenideasandavoidrepetition).
Emphasisetheimportanceofnounsandverbsin
academicEnglishas‘content-bearing’words.
1 priorities–prioritization
2 assumed–assumption
Optionalextension
Makealistofcommonnounsuffixeswiththeclassand
writethemontheboard.Examplesinclude:-ion;-ness;
-ity;-ment;-ence;-er/-or(oftentalkingaboutaperson);
-ism/-ist(oftentalkingaboutbeliefsystemsandtheir
supporters);-ship(oftenanabstractnounindicating
differentrelationships);-hood(oftenanabstractnoun
indicatingdifferent‘families’).Askstudentstothinkofat
leastoneexampleofanounforeachsuffix.Ensurethat
thewordsareindeednouns.
2.2
verb
noun(s)
verb
noun(s)
approach
assess
assume
benefit
create
define
distribute
establish
estimate
function
approach
assessment
assumption
benefit
creation
definition
distribution
establishment
estimate/
estimation
function
identify
indicate
interpret
occur
prioritize
process
require
research
respond
vary
identification
indication
interpretation
occurrence
priority/
prioritization
process
requirement
research
response
variation
Languagenote
Theremayoftenbemorethanonetypeofnounwhich
comesfromthesameroot.Youmayacceptthefollowing
aspossibleanswerstoexercise2.2.
–assessor=apersonwhoassesses(e.g.anexam)
–creator=someonewhocreatessomething
–creativity=thequalityofbeingcreative
–distributor=apersonororganisationthatsupplies
goodstoshopsorcompanies
–functionality=anyoftheoperationsperformedbya
pieceofequipmentorsoftware
–an interpretertranslatesbetweentwolanguages
–procession=alineofpeoplemovinginonedirection
–researcher=apersonwhocarriesoutresearch
–variety=thequalityofbeingvaried
2.3a
2 variation
3 benefits
4 responses
b
2 exclusion
3 reaction
4 analysis
3
Suggestedanswers
2 Thisassessmentwasusedtodetermine
whetherlearninghadoccurredduringthe
course.
3 ThereisnotalwaysarequirementtohaveaPhD
inBusinessStudies.
4 Eachhypothesiswasthentestedindividually.
5 However,adifferentinterpretationhasbeenput
forwardbyWhite(2009).
Verb–noun collocations
Optionallead-in
Tofocusstudentsontheconceptofcollocation,present
thefollowingwordcombinationsandaskwhichsound
morenaturalinEnglish.Thecorrectanswersare
underlined.
fastfood/quickfood
strongtea/powerfultea
strongcomputer/powerfulcomputer
heavysmoker/fatsmoker
heavyface/fatface
3.1 Pointoutthatgooduseofcollocationcanmake
students’Englishsoundmorecompetentandnatural.
Collocationsareoften‘arbitrary’(thereareoftenno
logicalrulesastowhycertainwordsgowithothers).
2 take
3 measure 4 satisfy
5 achieve 6 make
7 take
3.2
find answers to problems: solve,resolve,tackle,
overcome,dealwith
cause or encounter problems: pose,face,raise
stay away from problems: circumvent,avoid
Homeworkoption
1 Studentsidentifyotherverbswhichcollocatewiththe
nounsin3.1.Forexample:
– problems: identify, present, cause
– action: agree on
– benefits: derive, gain, accrue
– needs: have, express
– outcomes: influence, determine, evaluate
– progress: achieve, assess, monitor
– decisions: make, reach, abide by
2 Studentsidentifysentencesfromtheirsubjectarea
whichincludethesecollocations,e.g.
– Other people might tackle problems differently, but
also reach the same goal.
– Less developed countries may also face problems
with initial implementation costs.
– Bulmer claims that statisticians often go to many
lengths to avoid problems with reliability and validity.
18 Unit 1 Choices and implications
© in this web service Cambridge University Press
www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
978-0-521-16526-6 – Cambridge Academic English B2 Upper Intermediate
Chris Sowton and Martin Hewings
Excerpt
More information
Model answers
10.3 Model answer
Inmodernsociety,thewaythatthegeneralpublicviewsscientistsand
theirworkisimportant.Onereasonisthatitcanaffectwhetheryoung
peopledecidetotakeupacareerinscience.Themediaclearlyhas
asignificantinfluenceontheimageofscientiststhatispresentedto
people.Infilmsandtelevision,forexample,theyareoftenshownas
beingmadoroutoftouchwiththerealworld.However,themediais
nottheonlyinfluenceonpeople’sviewofscientistsandtheirwork.For
example,mostpeoplestudyscienceatschool,andthisexperience
mayhaveanimpact.HereIwillarguethatalthoughthemediaplaysa
partinformingpeople’sviews,otherfactorsmaybeequallyinfluential.
10.4a Model answer
Theissueofsocialresponsibilitywithincompanieshasbecome
increasinglyimportantinrecentyears.Theinfluenceofglobalisation
hasmadethisissueevenmoreimportantforlargeinternational
companies.Manycompaniesfeelthatitisnotonlythe‘rightthing’to
bemoresociallyresponsible,butthattherearecommercialadvantages
aswell.Thissaid,profitsarestillthedrivingforceoftheoverwhelming
majorityofcompanies,andamongstcertaintypesofbusinesses,old
attitudesstillprevail.Thisessaywillexploretheinterplayofthese
variousmatters,focusingonseveralcasestudiesintheprocess,and
willattempttopredictwhatchangesmayoccurinthefuture.
PHOTOCOPIABLE
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