Good day to all my Engl 2 (Writing in the Discipline) students. The following mental exercises should all be answered, to be presented on Wednesday (January 14). Kindly place your answers in a clean sheet of paper. Thank you and happy thinking.
Task 1
Instruction: Divide the following text into paragraphs. Remember that each paragraph should develop a particular theme.
How to Stop Yourself Snoring?
Snoring is caused when the airway at the back of the nose and throat becomes partially obstructed. This is usually due to the loosening of the surrounding oropharyngeal muscles, but the reasons why this should occur are varied. The most common are smoking, obesity and the consumption of relaxants such as alcohol and sleeping pills. As with any common ailment, there are a host of "miracle" cures advertised - but you should first try a few simple steps to see if you can halt the snoring before adopting more drastic measures. Lifestyle changes can be the most effective. If you are overweight, a loss of weight will help to reduce the pressure on your neck. You should also stop smoking and try not to drink alcohol at least four hours before you go to bed. Beyond this, try to change your regular sleeping position. Raise the head of your bed with a brick, or tie something uncomfortable into the back of your pyjamas to encourage you to sleep on your side. Both of these will help to alter the angle of your throat as you sleep, and may thus make breathing easier for you. It is also important to keep your nasal passage clear and unblocked. Allergies, colds and hay fever can temporarily cause you to snore; nasal decongestants may help, but you are not advised to use such remedies for long periods. Nasal strips, as worn by sportspeople, have been proven to reduce nasal airway resistance by up to 30 per cent, so consider these as a long-term alternative. If this fails, then you may wish to look at the varied snoring aids that are on the market. They range from neck collars that stop your neck tilting, through to mandibular-advancement devices (such as gumshields) which reduce upper airway resistance, and tongue-retaining devices. You can also buy essential-oil products that are added to warm water and infused or consumed before bedtime. They claim to tone up your palate and unblock your nasal passage. Finally, if your symptoms persist, visit your GP or contact the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association (01737 557 997) for advice. If you do not, your partner might.
Task 2
Instruction: Look at the following text about growing cotton in India. The paragraphs have not been written in the correct order. Arrange the paragraphs in the correct order. Remember that the topic of one paragraph should follow logically from the topic of the last paragraph and should lead on to the topic of the next paragraph.
Pesticide Suicide
Most of the farmers are extremely poor. Attracted by cheap loans from pesticides traders and the prospect of a quick buck, they borrowed heavily to raise cotton on small plots of land.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the crop losses and destruction in Andhra Pradesh arose from the repeated application of excessive amounts of chemicals - a practice actively encouraged by pesticides traders.
The suicide of Samala Mallaiah in Nagara village grabbed media headlines. He owned one acre of land, leased two more and grew cotton on all three. After making a loss in the first year, he leased yet more land in an attempt to recover. Confronted with falling prices, mounting debts and pest attacks, he committed harakiri. ‘Cotton has given us shattered dreams,’ said one old farmer in Nagara village.
As many as 60,000 small farmers in the region of Andhra Pradesh, southern India, have taken to farming cotton instead of food crops. Some 20 of them have recently committed suicide by eating lethal doses of pesticide.
Whitefly, boll weevils and caterpillars multiplied and destroyed their crops, despite the constant application of pesticides. The average yield of cotton fields in Andhra Pradesh fell by more than half in just one year. Now the farmers are in no position to repay the loans or feed their families.
Nearly half the pesticides used in India go into protecting cotton, the most important commercial crop in the country. However, pests have shown increased immunity to a range of pesticides. Last year there were heavy crop losses due to leaf-curl, which is caused by the dreaded whitefly. This nondescript, milky-white fly sucks sap from the cotton leaves, making them curl and dry up. The fly struck first in Pakistan and north-western India. Then it turned south.
Task 3
Instruction: Put the following sentences in the correct order to produce well organised paragraphs.
PARAGRAPH 1
a. For a lightweight poster or sign, you can use either offset book stock or cover stock.
b. You'll probably have to take your publication to a commercial printer, however, since bristol won't feed through most desktop printers or copy machines.
c. The type of paper you choose for a poster or a sign depends on how it will be reproduced and how it is going to be used.
d. If you need to create a more durable poster or sign, or create packaging, bristol stock is your best choice.
b. You'll probably have to take your publication to a commercial printer, however, since bristol won't feed through most desktop printers or copy machines.
c. The type of paper you choose for a poster or a sign depends on how it will be reproduced and how it is going to be used.
d. If you need to create a more durable poster or sign, or create packaging, bristol stock is your best choice.
PARAGRAPH 2
a. It's rare, but not unheard of, for mail to go astray.
b. And many corporate mail servers have had growing pains, too, experiencing holdups and the odd deletion.
c. On the whole though, you can assume email will arrive.
d. However during 1997, AOL and Microsoft Network - to name just the big players - had severe mail outages resulting in the delay, and in some cases loss, of email.
e. In general Internet email is considerably more reliable than the postal service.
b. And many corporate mail servers have had growing pains, too, experiencing holdups and the odd deletion.
c. On the whole though, you can assume email will arrive.
d. However during 1997, AOL and Microsoft Network - to name just the big players - had severe mail outages resulting in the delay, and in some cases loss, of email.
e. In general Internet email is considerably more reliable than the postal service.
PARAGRAPH 3
a. Time may indicate the importance of the occasion as well as on what level an interaction between persons is to take place.
b. The same applies for calls after 11:00 P.M.
c. Different parts of the day, for example, are highly significant in certain contexts.
d. Our realisation that time talks is even reflected in such common expressions as, "What time does the clock say?"
e. In the United States if you telephone someone very early in the morning, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call usually signals a matter of utmost importance and extreme urgency.
f. A call received during sleeping hours is apt to be taken as a matter of life and death, hence the rude joke value of these calls among the young.
b. The same applies for calls after 11:00 P.M.
c. Different parts of the day, for example, are highly significant in certain contexts.
d. Our realisation that time talks is even reflected in such common expressions as, "What time does the clock say?"
e. In the United States if you telephone someone very early in the morning, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call usually signals a matter of utmost importance and extreme urgency.
f. A call received during sleeping hours is apt to be taken as a matter of life and death, hence the rude joke value of these calls among the young.
PARAGRAPH 4
a. But modern anthropology stands opposed to the view that anatomy is destiny.
b. Men are taller, heavier, and stronger than women; hence it is "natural" that hunting and warfare should be male specialities.
c. Men have higher levels of testosterone; hence they are "naturally" more aggressive, sexually and otherwise, and are "naturally" dominant over women.
d. Since differences in the anatomy and physiology of human males and females are so obvious it is easy to be misled into believing that sex-linked roles and statuses are primarily biological rather than cultural phenomena.
e. As the underlying demographic, technological, economic, and ecological conditions to which these sex-linked roles are adapted change, new cultural definitions of sex-linked roles will emerge.
f. Moreover since women menstruate, become pregnant, and lactate, they "naturally" are the ones to stay at home to care for and feed infants and children.
g. Nor are women born with an innate tendency to care for infants and children and to be sexually and politically subordinate.
h. Rather it has been the case that under a broad but finite set of cultural and natural conditions certain sex-linked specialities have been selected for in a large number of cultures.
i. Males are not born with an innate tendency to be hunters or warriors or to be sexually and politically dominant over women.
b. Men are taller, heavier, and stronger than women; hence it is "natural" that hunting and warfare should be male specialities.
c. Men have higher levels of testosterone; hence they are "naturally" more aggressive, sexually and otherwise, and are "naturally" dominant over women.
d. Since differences in the anatomy and physiology of human males and females are so obvious it is easy to be misled into believing that sex-linked roles and statuses are primarily biological rather than cultural phenomena.
e. As the underlying demographic, technological, economic, and ecological conditions to which these sex-linked roles are adapted change, new cultural definitions of sex-linked roles will emerge.
f. Moreover since women menstruate, become pregnant, and lactate, they "naturally" are the ones to stay at home to care for and feed infants and children.
g. Nor are women born with an innate tendency to care for infants and children and to be sexually and politically subordinate.
h. Rather it has been the case that under a broad but finite set of cultural and natural conditions certain sex-linked specialities have been selected for in a large number of cultures.
i. Males are not born with an innate tendency to be hunters or warriors or to be sexually and politically dominant over women.
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