Название: Английский язык

Жанр: Филология

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Unit 4. different ways of presenting information

The writer of a text may decide to present part of the information graphically instead of (or as well as) verbally. He may introduce diagrams, pictorial representations, or flowcharts to illustrate a sequence of concepts or operations and the relationships between them. Diagrams and other schematic forms of presentation can help to clarify complex verbal expositions. They also tend to be easier to remember.

Note how the following flowchart simplifies and clarifies the verbal exposition that follows it:

Figure 5 Flowchart of «Waves» text (from Geva 1983: 387), from: «Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading» Cavell and Eskey

WAVES

Waves are caused, as nearly everyone knows, by the wind.Two classes of waves may be distinguished; the long rollers at the coast, and the far more irregular forms of the open seas, where waves of all sizes and types are present. The size and speedof waves depends not only on the wind's speed but on the length of time the wind has been blowing, and the unbroken stretch of water over which it blows as well. Very strong winds tend to beat down the waves' height and to reduce wave speed. On the other hand, less violent but steady winds often produce wave speeds greater than that of the wind itself. The average maximum wave length is about 36 feet, although occasional higher waves have been measured.

Exercise:

Make a flowchart to clarify the following text:

Thert has been a long history of interest in the question of whether body build and personality are related. One approach to this issue is the constitutional view, which postulates that the individual's biological consitution gives rise to both physical and psychological attributes and thus that these two sets of attributes are inevitably interrelated.