english level 2 present information logically and ... info... · present information logically and...

English Level 2 Present information logically and persuasively (in an article)

FS (Present information/ideas concisely, logically and persuasively; Use a range of writing styles/sentence structures; Use a range of sentence structures, including complex sentences, and paragraphs to organise written communication effectively)

SfL (Wt/L2.1; Wt/L2.2; Wt/L2.4; Wt/L2.6; Ws/L2.1; Ws/L2.4)

copyright © Tribal Education Ltd 2012 1

Introduction

To present information logically and persuasively, you will need to spend some time planning your writing before you start. You will need to think about:

• your audience (who you are writing for) • your purpose (why you are writing) • what information will support your argument and convince your audience • how to present the information persuasively (the best sequence, words, and structures to

use).

In this activity, you will look at how to present information logically and persuasively in an article.

The writing skills you will look at will also help you to write other types of text.

You will learn how to:

• plan a written article (organise your ideas in a logical and persuasive sequence) • use persuasive language • use evidence from other sources • use complex structures to express your ideas (complex sentences with subordinate

clauses, commas to aid clarity and correct subject verb agreement).

To complete some of the learning activities you will need to think about the purpose and audience of different articles. If you think you would like further help with understanding purpose and audience generally, ask your tutor for the resource:

• Understanding the purpose of a text

You might also find the following resources helpful as they look at reading skills you may need to use in order to gather ideas and information for article writing.

• Evaluating a text • Selecting and summarising information • Read the introduction and the ‘learn how to’ examples carefully before you try the

practice questions. • Use a dictionary to check the meanings of any unfamiliar words. • When you have finished, check your answers with the ones provided on pages 18 to

22. • If you are not sure about your answers, check with your tutor.





Learn how to organise your ideas in a logical and persuasive sequence

To decide how to organise your ideas in an article, you need to think about purpose and audience.

Articles are written for different types of print and online publication such as newspapers, magazines, and college, club or charity newsletters. Articles may discuss a current topic of general interest (e.g. for a newspaper or current affairs website) or a topic of interest to a particular type of reader (e.g. for a special interest magazine or website, or for a school or club newsletter).

Articles are mainly written in two different ways:

• unbiased – to present the facts about a particular topic (e.g. a news report) • biased – to present a particular point of view (e.g. an editorial) or even to promote an

idea or draw attention to a product (e.g. a marketing article).

All articles need:

• an eye-catching title or headline • an introduction to draws the reader in.

These are important because articles often appear in publications alongside other texts (e.g. other articles, adverts and other items, depending on the publication) that all compete for the reader’s attention. Most readers will not read everything, so you want them to notice your article.

How you organise the ideas and information in the body of your article will depend on your purpose.

Depending on the type of article, you could consider the following structures:

• a chronological structure (events described in time order) • paragraphs or sections that deal with specific subtopics • pros and cons (balance the advantages and disadvantages) • logical argument (give your opinion and support with evidence; then give opposing view

and discredit with evidence, or vice versa).

How you end your article will also vary. You might sum up or restate the main point you are trying to make, or refer the readers to sources of further information.

In this activity, we will focus on writing a persuasive article. Persuasive writing is similar to writing an argument, but you can be more personal and biased, even emotional.





Practice 1

Look at Text A on page 4, an article about using the Internet to make money, and answer the questions.

The writer uses five paragraphs. What does each paragraph do? Match the paragraph numbers to their purpose.

Paragraph 1 Sums up the main point that the article has been building up.

Paragraph 2 Explains what you need to do to be successful.

Paragraph 3 Explains what you need to have to become an affiliate marketer.

Paragraph 4 Explains how affiliate marketing works.

Paragraph 5 Introduces the topic and encourages you to read further.

How is the article organised? Does it follow any of the structures mentioned above?





Text A

Put your PC to work for you. Earn £600 a day for 45 minutes work!

The Internet is littered with articles and adverts that tempt you with the idea that if you have an Internet connection and you sign up to their scheme, you can spend the rest of your life sitting at home doing next to nothing and watching the money roll in. Of course, we all know that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. These ‘home business’ ideas are not all scams, but generating a substantial income from them is rarely as easy as the adverts make it sound. If you’ve ever been tempted by the idea of ‘working from home’, making money online by ‘placing adverts’ or ‘affiliate marketing’, read on to learn what you need to consider before you believe the promises that schemes like this will make you rich.

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular methods used to make money online. Essentially, it is a way of using one website to drive traffic to another. You, the affiliate, host adverts on your website. When visitors to your website click on the adverts, they are taken to another company’s website, and you earn commission for each click-through that results in a sale. Many affiliate schemes are free to join and carry no risk. Once you’ve subscribed, you simply select the companies whose goods and services you wish to advertise on your site.

If this sounds simple, well, it is. All you need is your own website or blog. So, is that the catch? Partly. However, physically creating a simple webpage or blog is not the problem. Anyone can do it: using a freely available webpage editor or blogging tool, you could have something up and running in a few minutes.

The real catch is that simply having a website or blog to put adverts on does not guarantee any income. Your site needs to have unique content that attracts lots of visitors. Furthermore, these visitors need to be the type of people who will be interested in buying the products or services you are advertising. Then, they need to not only click on the ads, but actually complete a sale there and then, without surfing off to any other sites first while they compare deals. Hence, to make any money, you need to think carefully about your content and your audience and then select your affiliate programmes to match. You also need to make sure that people can find your site. Great content won’t make you rich if people can’t see it, so you’ll have a bit of work to do establishing links to your site or blog from other sites and making sure it ranks well in search engine listings.

So, can you really make money from the Internet by placing adverts? Not as easily as some people would have you believe, but if you have a good idea for a website and are prepared to invest your time in converting that idea into well-designed, useful content, then maybe.





Practice 2

Look at Text B on page 6, an article about pets, and answer the questions.

The writer uses three paragraphs for this short article. What does each paragraph do? Match the paragraph numbers to their purpose.

Paragraph 1 Appeals to the reader’s emotions to persuade them to agree.

Paragraph 2 Describes baby animals in the way the reader probably already thinks of them, but then discredits this view by presenting a more negative picture.

Paragraph 3 Suggests adopting an older animal if you are looking for a pet, and supports this suggestion with reasons.

What is it about the organisation of this article that makes it persuasive?





Text B

Better with age

What springs to mind when you think of getting a new pet? Cute cotton wool kitties or playful pups perhaps. Baby animals are irresistibly cute and cuddly. However, they can also be mischievous little monsters. They may, as they follow their natural instincts, slash your made-to-measure designer curtains into straggly ribbons or chew your new fashion boots like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, they have to answer the call of nature and so are also prone to peeing puddles the size of the Pacific on your beautiful broadloom carpet.

If the prospect of all this damage does not fill you with joy and anticipation, perhaps you should consider getting an older animal. Contrary to popular belief, older animals can quite often make the best pets. They tend to be better behaved and easier to house train than younger animals, and they have just as much love to offer.

Older animals often linger in animal sanctuaries for years, while younger animals are much more quickly rehomed. Why not give an older animal a chance at a new life?





Learn how to use persuasive language

There are certain writing techniques you can use to persuade your readers to agree with your point of view, or take the action you want them to take. One thing you can do is support your opinions with reasons and evidence to convince your readers that you are right.

In some type of writing, for an example an essay, you need to write a balanced argument, giving evidence to support both sides of an argument. However, articles are often biased and include evidence that supports only one side of the argument.

Look again at Text B. Can you think of any arguments against getting an older pet? You probably can (it might die sooner or already be on expensive medication, for example). Notice, however, that the writer did not include any arguments against.

Practice 3

You need to write an article to persuade your readers to holiday in Britain instead of abroad.

Which ideas might you choose to include, and to back up with reasons or evidence, and which might it be better not to mention?

Tick the ideas you would include and support.

• If you stay in Britain, your holiday spending contributes to our economy. • If you go abroad, you travel further and contribute more to air pollution. • Part of the fun of holidays is experiencing a different culture and

language. • If you stay in Britain, you cannot guarantee good weather. • If you go abroad, you risk travel disruption caused by strikes, volcanoes

etc. • If you stay in Britain, your holiday will probably cost you less. • Britain has many all-weather attractions. • There are some things you can’t experience in the UK like glacier

expeditions and elephant trekking. • In Britain you won’t face a language barrier that could make it difficult to

get what you want or assert your rights.





You need to present the ideas that you feel are most persuasive using persuasive language. You can use some of the techniques the writer uses in Text B:

• Positive adjectives (not just curtains but ‘made-to-measure designer curtains’; not just ‘carpet’ but ‘beautiful broadloom carpet’ – this makes the curtains and carpet sound valuable and important so it makes the damage seem worse)

• Superlative adjectives (not just ‘good pets’ but ‘the best pets’) or other words to intensify your adjectives (not just ‘cute’ but ‘irresistibly cute’) for exaggerative effect.

• Emotive words, that is words that appeal to our emotions (‘slash’ sounds worse than ‘rip’; older animals ‘linger’ rather than ‘stay’)

• Rhetorical questions, that is questions that don’t require an answer but just make the reader think (‘Why not give an older animal a chance at a new life?’)

Practice 4

Match the persuasive techniques to the examples:

Positive adjectives Can you afford to ignore this offer?

Superlative adjectives a crippling financial crisis

Emotive words sparkling, turquoise blue water

Rhetorical question the cheapest deals from the biggest online retailer

Practice 5

The sentences below are for an article about holidaying in Britain. Rewrite them to make them more persuasive.

• If you go abroad, you risk travel disruption caused by strikes, volcanoes etc.

• Britain has many all weather attractions.

• In Britain you won’t face a language barrier that could make it difficult to get what you want or assert your rights.





Learn how to use evidence from other sources

You can also include evidence from other sources – from ideas and information that people have spoken (for example, from speeches, interviews and surveys) and from things other people have written (books, websites, reports and so on).

Look at Text C on the next page, in which the author has used information from people he has spoken to.





Text C

Why supermarkets are bad for your bank balance

You can get almost everything in a supermarket these days, and many people assume this is a good thing. With so many special offers around the store, we usually think we are getting a good deal. However, supermarket shopping can cost you more.

Let’s imagine you go out one day with a short list of items to buy that include the basics like bread, as well as meat and fresh fruit and vegetables. In the old days you would have headed for a small local bakery, an independent butcher’s and your friendly family

greengrocer’s. The vast majority of people these days will expect to buy everything on their list in one supermarket. While it’s true that supermarkets are often able to undercut smaller shops, buying all your shopping in one place is not always the best way to keep the cost down. The price of certain basic items like bread and milk may not vary much, but supermarket prices on meat, fish, fresh vegetables and fruit vary widely. If you shop around, even just among the supermarkets, you can make significant savings. College student Tanitha Smith reports: ‘In our road we have two supermarkets. I regularly find that if I check both before buying, I can save several pounds. For example, yesterday I was after pears and broccoli. In the end, I paid £2.17 but if I had bought them straight away in the first shop without checking they would have cost me £3.23. If you multiply that sort of saving by all the things you buy in a week, it’s pretty significant.’

The other thing about supermarkets is the number of tricks they have up their sleeve to tempt you to buy more than you need. It’s easy to be tempted by ‘Buy One Get One Free’ (or ‘BOGOF’) and ‘3 for 2’ offers to buy multiple items when you only really needed one, and to buy items that you didn’t need in the first place. College student Matthew Rivers admits he often succumbs to BOGOF offers on biscuits and other treats that he wouldn’t have bought otherwise. His classmate, Rubina Khan, says she’s less likely to buy things she doesn’t need, but frequently pays for two items in order to get one free, when she only intended to buy one. Often, she says, some of it ends up in the bin because she has bought too much to use.

Special offers take advantage of the fact that most supermarket shoppers will not only buy what is on their list, but will also buy on impulse, and the positioning of different products in the supermarket is another way of encouraging us to do this. Basics like bread and milk are often at the back of the store so that we have to walk past lots of other tempting goodies to get to them. Products that will appeal to children are placed low down so that children notice them and pester their parents. One way or another, we nearly always come out of a supermarket with more than we went in for. These things didn’t happen so much when we used to shop in smaller specialised stores.





Notice the ways the writer of Text C reports what other people have said.

College student Tanitha Smith reports: ‘In our road we have two supermarkets. I regularly find that if I check both before buying, I can save several pounds. For example, yesterday I was after pears and broccoli. In the end, I paid £2.17 but if I had bought them straight away in the first shop without checking they would have cost me £3.23. If you multiply that sort of saving by all the things you buy in a week, it’s pretty significant.’

In this example, the writer has introduced Tanitha Smith’s words with a colon and used her exact words. The words Tanitha spoke are enclosed in quotation marks.

If you use the exact words that someone else has spoken or written, you must

• introduce them with a colon or a comma (unless they begin the sentence) • enclose them in quotation marks.

The next example uses what other people have said in a different way:

College student Matthew Rivers admits he often succumbs to BOGOF offers on biscuits and other treats that he wouldn’t have bought otherwise. His classmate, Rubina Khan, says she’s less likely to buy things she doesn’t need, but frequently pays for two items in order to get one free, when she only intended to buy one. Often, she says, some of it ends up in the bin because she has bought too much to use.

In this example, the writer has not used Matthew Rivers’ or Rubina Khan’s exact words. He has reported the meaning of what they said using his own words. If you use your own words to include information or ideas that someone else has spoken or written, you must still say where they come from, but you do not need to use quotation marks.

Notice that other people’s ideas are often reported in the present tense:

College student, Tanitha Smith, reports . . .

College student, Matthew Rivers, admits . . .

His classmate, Rubina Khan, says . . .

The past tense may be more likely when mentioning how information was obtained:

When interviewed, the councillor said . . .

Our survey revealed . . .





Practice 6

Imagine you are writing an article about holidaying in Britain.

You interviewed a local travel agent, Kitty Tailor. This is what she said:

You also read a report on a website called Where To Go that said:

Our survey revealed that over 30% of people who took a foreign holiday had to make a complaint at some stage of their holiday, compared to only 15% of those who booked holidays in the UK. The most common complaints were about the standard and cleanliness of the accommodation. Furthermore, many of those whose complaint related to a foreign holiday had difficulty resolving the problem. In contrast, nearly all holidaymakers who made a complaint in the UK got their problems resolved quickly and to their satisfaction.

Of the five sentences below, which use information from these two sources correctly? What is the problem with the others?

1. A survey by travel website Where To Go found that holidaymakers were more likely to have reason to complain if they holidayed abroad than if they holidayed in the UK.

2. The Where To Go website reports that over 30% of people who took a foreign holiday had to make a complaint at some stage of their holiday, compared to only 15% of those who booked holidays in the UK.

3. Travel agent Kitty Tailor thinks UK businesses may not benefit long term from the increase in UK holiday bookings this year. She says, ‘Once confidence in flying is restored, I think many people will decide to holiday overseas again.’

4. Travel agent Kitty Tailor warns that UK businesses may not benefit long term from the increase in UK holiday bookings this year. She thinks that ‘people will start flying again when these problems are not so prominent in their memories and then foreign holiday bookings will increase again’.

5. According to Where To Go, holiday makers complain more often about the standard and cleanliness of the accommodation than any other aspect of their holiday.

We saw a marked increase in bookings for holidays in the UK in summer 2010. A lot of holidaymakers were put off going abroad by the Icelandic volcano incident, and they were also worried by stories of flights being cancelled due to industrial action or airlines and travel companies going bust. I don’t think this is necessarily a trend that we’ll see repeated year on year. Once confidence in flying is restored, I think many people will decide to holiday overseas again.





Learn how to use complex structures to express your ideas

Complex sentences can help you express your ideas precisely and clearly.

Complex sentences consist of two parts:

• a main clause which could be a sentence in its own right • a subordinate clause that depends on the main clause to make sense.

Subordinate clauses often start with a subordinating conjunction (while, if, because, as, until, unless, although etc).

Here are some examples of complex sentences. In each example, notice that the clauses are separated with a comma.

This is the subordinate clause. It needs the main clause to make sense. On its own it would leave you wondering ‘When they click, then what?’ ‘When’ is the subordinating conjunction.

When visitors to your website click on the adverts, they are taken to another company’s website.

Once you’ve subscribed, you simply select the companies whose goods and services you wish to advertise on your site.

This is the subordinate clause. It needs the main clause to make sense. On its own it would leave you wondering ‘Once you’ve subscribed then what?’ ‘Once’ is the subordinating conjunction.

If the subordinate clause was not there, the main clause would still make sense.





In these examples, the subordinate clause comes before the main clause. It is also possible to have the main clause first. Sometimes the comma is left out when the subordinate clause comes after the main clause, but you can still use a comma if you feel it makes a long sentence clearer.

If no-one can see it, great content won’t make you rich.

subordinate clause + comma + main clause

Great content won’t make you rich if no-one can see it.

main clause + subordinate clause

A subordinate clause can also be placed in the middle of a sentence.

subordinate clause

They may, as they follow their natural instincts, slash your made-to-measure designer curtains into straggly ribbons.

Notice that a pair of commas is used to separate the subordinate clause from the main clause in this case. Everything that is outside the commas is the main clause and should make sense on its own.

Note: A main clause could be a sentence in its own right. A subordinate clause cannot form a sentence in its own right, so cannot start with a capital letter AND end with a full stop. It must be part of a longer sentence.





Practice 7

a. Can you identify the subordinate clauses that are incorrectly punctuated as complete sentences? In each subordinate clause, identify the subordinating conjunction.

1. A police officer has the right to require you to give your name and address. 2. If he or she thinks you have been behaving antisocially. 3. Since ‘antisocial’ behaviour is open to varying interpretations. 4. You should be cautious about refusing to provide your personal details. 5. A police officer may decide to search you. 6. Because they believe you are carrying drugs, weapons or stolen goods. 7. Before a search is carried out. 8. The police officer should explain why you are being searched.

b. Rewrite numbers 1–8 above into a short paragraph consisting of four sentences. This means you will need to combine each subordinate clause you identified in question (a) with a main clause to make a longer sentence. You will need to make some changes to punctuation and capitalisation.





Look again at the following sentence:

A police officer has the right to require you to give your name and address.

In this sentence ‘a police officer’ is the subject and ‘has’ is the verb. It is easy to see that the subject and verb belong together. It is easy to spot that the police officer is singular and choose the correct verb form to match.

Sometimes, it is harder to identify the subject of the verb because other words get in the way, for example, when a subordinate clause is placed between the subject and verb:

A police officer, if he or she thinks you have been behaving anti-socially, has the right to require you to give your name and address.

Other extra information can also get in the way of a subject and its verb. In sentences where the subject is separated from the verb by any sort of extra information, be careful not to get confused by other words in the sentence and choose the right form of the verb.

Supermarket prices on meat, fish, fresh vegetables and fruit vary widely

Supermarket prices on meat, fish, fresh vegetables and fruit varies widely

In this sentence, ‘prices’ is the plural subject. Don’t get confused by the singular word ‘fruit’ which comes just before the verb!

The quality of fruit and vegetables also varies.

The quality of fruit and vegetables also vary.

In this sentence, ‘quality’ is the singular subject, but the plural word ‘vegetables’ nearer the verb could be confusing.

Practice 8

Can you identify the subject and choose the right form of the verb to complete these sentences?

Tip: When you have identified the subject, see which verb form would sound right if there were no extra words in the way.

1. Severe storms, due to unusually low pressure over the sea, [ are / is ] coming our way.

2. The cost of prescription medicines, which we reported on in the last issue, [ have / has ] risen again.

3. Most people who booked a holiday with us last year [ were / was ] very satisfied.

4. The availability of adventure activities like diving and elephant trekking [ make / makes ] Thailand an attractive holiday destination.

5. The result of all my attempts to convince them over several months [ were / was ] rather disappointing.





Apply your skills

You are going to write a persuasive article.

You should start by identifying the purpose and audience, as this will inform what kind of information you need to include and what sort of language is appropriate.

Next, plan the content of each paragraph or each section. One example is given below:

Purpose and audience

Content plan Where could I use other sources to support my argument?

Article for student newsletter to encourage young people to vote in elections

1. Get attention by giving shocking examples or statistics relating to countries where there is no voting and how unjust dictatorships can be.

2. Historical background to vote in UK:

• was the privilege of only 2% of males

• gradual reforms to include more men

• suffragettes fought for women’s vote

• lowering of voting age

3. Why have so many people fought so hard for the vote? Why it’s important to have your say.

In this paragraph, include views of young people who have voted

4. Conclude that you shouldn’t take it for granted

Now plan your own article that is relevant to your interests.

You could discuss your plan with your tutor before you start writing.

When you come to write your article, check that you:

• organise your information logically and persuasively • incorporate information from other sources appropriately • use complex sentences to express your ideas • use commas and subject verb agreement to make your writing clear and correct.

Ask your tutor to check your work.





Answers

Practice 1

Look at Text A on page 4, an article about using the Internet to make money, and answer the questions.

The writer uses five paragraphs. What does each paragraph do? Match the paragraph numbers to their purpose.

Paragraph 1 Introduces the topic and encourages you to read further.

Paragraph 2 Explains how affiliate marketing works.

Paragraph 3 Explains what you need to have to become an affiliate marketer.

Paragraph 4 Explains what you need to do to be successful.

Paragraph 5 Sums up the main point that the article has been building up.

How is the article organised? Does it follow any of the structures mentioned above?

It introduces the idea that you can get rich by placing adverts online and discredits it in the first paragraph, although it does not give evidence. Then it gives the side of the argument that the writer wants you to believe in and builds towards the conclusion that it is much harder to get rich this way than some people claim. It is similar to a ‘logical argument’ structure, though only one side of the argument is developed. Sometimes you might be expected to develop both sides of the argument. However, in this article the writer wants to persuade people to believe a particular point of view so chooses only to include facts and reasoning that support his point.

Practice 2

Look at Text B on page 6, an article about pets, and answer the questions.

The writer uses three paragraphs. What does each paragraph do? Match the paragraph numbers to their purpose.

Paragraph 1 Describes baby animals as pets in the way the reader probably already thinks of them, but then discredits this view by presenting a more negative picture.

Paragraph 2 Suggests adopting an older animal if you are looking for a pet, and supports this suggestion with reasons.

Paragraph 3 Appeals to the reader’s emotions to persuade them to agree.

What is it about the organisation of this article that makes it persuasive?

The writer assumes that the reader is an animal lover and will relate to and enjoy the initial positive description of cute baby animals. This draws the reader in, but then they are challenged to think about the possible negatives of having a baby animal and the positives of adopting an older pet. It can be a good persuasive technique to briefly first present the view that you don’t want people to agree with, before explaining the opposing view more





fully. The reader may be more likely to remember what they read last, so ending with something that appeals to their emotions is also a good persuasive technique.

Practice 3

You need to write an article to persuade your readers to holiday in Britain instead of abroad.

Which ideas might you choose to include, and to back up with reasons or evidence, and which might it be better not to mention?

Tick the ideas you would include and support.

• If you stay in Britain, your holiday spending contributes to our economy. • If you go abroad, you travel further and contribute more to air pollution. • Part of the fun of holidays is experiencing a different culture and language. • If you stay in Britain, you cannot guarantee good weather. • If you go abroad, you risk travel disruption caused by strikes, volcanoes etc. • If you stay in Britain, your holiday will probably cost you less. • Britain has many all-weather attractions. • There are some things you can’t experience in the UK like glacier expeditions and

elephant trekking. • In Britain you won’t face a language barrier that could make it difficult to get what you

want or assert your rights.

You might or might not include all the remaining ideas, and you might have other ideas of your own. However, the important point is that all your main ideas should add weight to your argument. You can mention opposing ideas briefly as a way in to your ideas as we shall see next.

Practice 4

Match the persuasive techniques to the examples:

Positive adjectives sparkling, turquoise blue water

Superlative adjectives the cheapest deals from the biggest online retailer

Emotive words a crippling financial crisis

Rhetorical question Can you afford to ignore this offer?

Practice 5

The sentences below are for an article about holidaying in Britain. Rewrite them to make them more persuasive.

There are many possible ways of rewriting these sentences. These are just suggestions.

• Why risk having all your holiday hopes and dreams dashed by strikes or volcanoes? • Britain has a superb variety of fantastic all-weather attractions.





• In Britain, you won’t face a language barrier and so you do not risk finding yourself in painfully embarrassing or frustrating situations where you can’t get what you want or are denied your rights.

Practice 6

Of the five sentences below, which use information from these two sources correctly? What is the problem with the others?

1. A survey by travel website Where To Go found that holidaymakers were more likely to have reason to complain if they holidayed abroad than if they holidayed in the UK.

Correct. The author uses his own words to explain the findings of the Where To Go survey.

2. The Where To Go website reports that over 30% of people who took a foreign holiday had to make a complaint at some stage of their holiday, compared to only 15% of those who booked holidays in the UK.

Incorrect. This sentence uses the exact words published on the Where To Go website so these should be introduced with a colon or a comma and enclosed in quotation marks.

The Where To Go website reports that, ‘over 30% of people who took a foreign holiday had to make a complaint at some stage of their holiday, compared to only 15% of those who booked holidays in the UK’.

3. Travel agent Kitty Tailor thinks UK businesses may not benefit long term from the increase in UK holiday bookings this year. She says, ‘Once confidence in flying is restored, I think many people will decide to holiday overseas again.’

Correct. This example uses the travel agents actual words and correctly introduces them with a comma and encloses them in quotation marks.

4. Travel agent Kitty Tailor warns that UK businesses may not benefit long term from the increase in UK holiday bookings this year. She thinks that: ‘people will start flying again when these problems are not so prominent in their memories and then foreign holiday bookings will increase again’.

Incorrect. In this example the author has used her own words to interpret what the travel agent said, so these should not be in quotation marks.

Travel agent Kitty Tailor warns that UK businesses may not benefit long term from the increase in UK holiday bookings this year. She thinks that people will start flying again when these problems are not so prominent in their memories and then foreign holiday bookings will increase again.

5. According to Where To Go, holiday makers complain more often about the standard and cleanliness of the accommodation than any other aspect of their holiday.

Correct. This example correctly identifies that the information comes from Where To Go but as it does not use the exact words from the website quotation marks are not necessary.





Practice 7

a. Can you identify the subordinate clauses that are incorrectly punctuated as complete sentences? In each subordinate clause, identify the subordinating conjunction. 1. A police officer has the right to require you to give your name and address. (Correctly

punctuated. Main clause = complete sentence.) 2. If he or she thinks you have been behaving ‘antisocially’. (Incorrectly punctuated.

Subordinate clause = not a complete sentence. Subordinate conjunction = If) 3. Since ‘antisocial’ behaviour is open to varying interpretations. (Incorrectly

punctuated. Subordinate clause = not a complete sentence. Subordinate conjunction = Since)

4. You should be cautious about refusing to provide your personal details. (Correctly punctuated. Main clause = complete sentence.)

5. A police officer may decide to search you. (Correctly punctuated. Main clause = complete sentence.)

6. Because they believe you are carrying drugs, weapons or stolen goods. (Incorrectly punctuated. Subordinate clause = not a complete sentence. Subordinate conjunction = Because)

7. Before a search is carried out. (Incorrectly punctuated. Subordinate clause = not a complete sentence. Subordinate conjunction = Before)

8. The police officer should explain why you are being searched. (Correctly punctuated. Main clause = complete sentence.)

b. Rewrite numbers 1–8 above into a short paragraph consisting of four sentences. This means you will need to combine each subordinate clause you identified in question (a) with a main clause to make a longer sentence. You will need to make some changes to punctuation and capitalisation.

There is more than one way of doing this. The following is only one suggested answer:

A police officer, if he or she thinks you have been behaving antisocially, has the right to require you to give your name and address. Since ‘antisocial’ behaviour is open to varying interpretations, you should be cautious about refusing to provide your personal details. A police officer may decide to search you because they believe you are carrying drugs, weapons or stolen goods. The police officer should explain why you are being searched before a search is carried out.





Practice 8

Can you identify the subject and choose the right form of the verb to complete these sentences?

TIP: When you have identified the subject, see which verb form would sound right if there were no extra words in the way.

1. Severe storms, due to unusually low pressure over the sea, are coming our way.

storms = plural subject

2. The cost of prescription medicines, which we have reported on in previous issues, has risen again.

cost = singular subject

3. Most people who booked a holiday with us last year were very satisfied.

Most people = plural subject

4. The availability of adventure activities like diving and elephant trekking makes Thailand an attractive holiday destination.

availability = singular subject

5. The result of all my attempts to convince them over several months was rather disappointing.

result = singular subject

english level 2 present information logically and ... info... · present information logically and...

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