VV070/05
Adapted from “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” Leonhart Center, Penn State. .
Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
a) Find four mistakes among the underlined words/phrases.
A greenhouse is a glass building used to grow plants. A greenhouse has transparent glass that allows the sunlight to
pass through, but does not allow the heat inside to escape. The same affect occurs on the earth. The suns radiation
passes through the atmosphere to heat the earth's surface. When heated, the earth's surface produces infrared
radiation, which has a longer wavelength than that of sunlight. This infrared radiation rises into the atmosphere
where gases, such as carbon dioxide, prevents the infrared radiation from escaping into space. The concentrations of
these gases which are called greenhouse gases, control how much infrared radiation escapes. The retained radiation
heats the earth's atmosphere, thus keeping the planet warm.
b) For each excerpt, identify the source of the ambiguity: (1) improper syntax (word order), (2) missing
comma, (3) unclear pronoun reference, or (4) grouping of conflicting words.
- The Lunar Module was only designed to hold two astronauts and to have a life time of forty-five hours.
- The beams are positioned with respect to the chopper blade so that while one beam passes the output of
the opposite beam is completely blocked.
- The Hindenburg was filled with hydrogen because it is lighter than air...The report claimed that a hull wire
could have ruptured a gas cell if it fractured.
- Avoiding complicated multi-ordered calculations, the equations come from fundamental definitions of mass
flow, work, and efficiency.
- To provide spill protection, all tanks were equipped with basins and automatic shutoff devices or overfill
alarms or ball float valves.
- Being the first step in introducing CFD, Jones had to set up conservative assumptions.
- As with any system errors occur in localization.
- Having a model would help designers predict the effects of engine operation over all speeds.
c) Complete the sentences with the correct article or leave the gap empty if no article is needed.
1. ________ results were significantly better in ________ method X than ________ method Y.
2. ________ method X had ________ higher true positive rate than ________ method Y.
3. ________ memory means ________ power or ________ process of recalling.
4. X is ________ algorithm which solves ________ Travelling Salesman problem. ________ algorithm
X is ________ fastest among all ________ known TSP algorithms.
5. In ________ next section we introduce ________ theory of ________ Bloom filters.
6. To assess ________ students’ program codes, we construct ________ bug library. ________ bug
library contains all ________ errors which have occurred in ________ students’ programs.
VV070/05
Adapted from “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” Leonhart Center, Penn State. .
Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
SEMICOLON
Main clause + main clause (no coordinating conjunction)
The side effects are not minor; some leave the patient quite ill.
The semicolon separates equal sentence elements (often working around expectations).
The airline campaign had highlighted only half the story; the other half was buried in the copy.
The campaign should not have stressed the pilots’ insecurity; instead, the campaign should have stressed the
improved performance resulting from that insecurity.
We often use semicolons between main clauses related by however, for example, etc.
Exercise: rewrite the sentences so that they include a semicolon and the expression in parenthesis.
1) Most music computers are too expensive for the average consumer. Digital keyboard instruments can be
inexpensive. They are widely available. (however)
2) Inside the keyboard is a small computer. The computer controls a sound synthesizer. The instrument can
both process and produce music. (consequently)
3) The person playing the keyboard presses keys or manipulates other controls. The computer and synthesizer
convert these signals. The signals are converted into vibrations and sounds. (immediately)
4) The inexpensive keyboards can perform only a few functions. To the novice computer musician, the range is
exciting. The range includes drum rhythms and simulated instruments. (still)
5) Would-be musicians can orchestrate whole songs. They start from just the melody lines. They need never
again play “Chopsticks.” (thus)
Reporting Verbs
1) Separate the following reporting verbs into three categories:
Suggest, describe, reveal, argue, note, show, speculate, point out, reject, strongly believe that, propose, deny,
negate, report, challenge, take into consideration, study, imply, emphasize, recommend, demonstrate, postulate,
claim, examine, go on to say that, state.
Neutral Tentative Strong
VV070/05
Adapted from “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” Leonhart Center, Penn State. .
Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
2) Look at the reporting verbs in the sentences and try to replace them with reporting verbs with similar
meaning. You might have to do slight alterations to the sentences.
a) Dr. Green confirms the results as valid and informative.
b) It is suggested that further research be made in this area.
c) The allegations were denied by the instructor.
d) Bořivoj suggested measuring the conductive abilities with a fork.
e) The claims from Chan’s paper were challenged by MU FI professors.
f) The data do not support the original aim of the thesis.
g) This paper proposes that a superconductive electromagnetism is the future of the auto industry.
h) It must be emphasized that the preliminary results were very promising.
CZENGLISH
Look at some of the sentences and try to identify the problems common to Czech learners of English. (For more see
Don Sparling: English or Czenglish)
A) The town has three theatres and two concert halls. Besides there are more than twenty cinemas. (34)
B) This invention enabled to do twice as much work a day. (74)
C) I think he won’t come./* I want him not to go there./* John seems not to be very bright./ *
D) Everybody doesn’t agree with me./* Some teachers can’t understand that everyone isn’t interested in their
subjects. (154)
SKETCH ENGINE
https://ske.fi.muni.cz
Working with British National Corpus (BNC)
a) Simple search
- What texts does “I” appear in?
o Modifying search
VV070/05
Adapted from “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” Leonhart Center, Penn State. .
Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
VV070/05
Adapted from “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” Leonhart Center, Penn State. .
Fowler, Henrey Ramsey; Aaron, Jane E., and Janice Okoomian. The Little, Brown Handbook. 10th ed. New York: Longman. 2007.
- Use * for anything (to * surprise; to * it differently, simply *)
- Are the following words or phrases formal or informal?
o A lot of
o figure
o America
o You
o Bad
o fridge
o Show
b) Sort and Frequency functions
- work with the word “consequently”
- compare the frequency of the following:
a. To put it another way vs to put it in another way
b. Another key thing to remember vs importantly
c. To give an illustration vs for instance
d. Little attention vs small amount of attention
e. Of equal importance vs equally important
c) Phrases
- Check for correct phrase – “researches were conducted,” “one criteria,” “make a photo,”
d) Lemmas – base form of the word