Answers to Exercise
1. Is (only ramp is the subject, the tiny lots and confusing signs are not taken into consideration)
2. Are ( Sons are just before the verb, so the verb is in plural form )
3. Is (the verb is determined by the subject after it, evidence is not countable, so it is a singular verb)
4. Brings (news is not countable, so it takes singular verb)
5. Was (there is only one farm= singular form)
6. Is (there is only one session, do not misinterpret it with ‘the ministers and its people’)
7. Is (Nobody is being elected, so it is a singular form)
8. Does (Do not be tricked by healthcare products, emphasis is on the use)
9. Causes (Emphasis is on the politician(singular), not on his fiery speeches(plural) )
10. State (reports- countable, it takes plural verb)
Friday, September 26, 2008
E-Portfolio 3 (summary of clean water)
Read and summarize a 500-1000 word article related to the 14 grand challenges for engineering. The article should be from a reputable source (e.g. not Wikipedia). The summary should be approximately 300 words. Remember to include a citation for the article.
“Clean water has been a scarcity in Earth.” Without much doubt, few will object to such statement. Now, many parts of the world have been experiencing water shortages and unfortunately, it has also become a rising problem that relates to the survival of every living organism. Basically, water serves as the main purpose of hydrating our bodies and maintaining the proper functioning of our biological system. Furthermore, it is used for domestic, agricultural and commercial purposes and not forgetting the natural-occurring water movement cycle which essentially sustains lives.
This problem, however, still persists although there are abundant water supplies throughout the world. The main contributing factor can be explained by the fact of uneven distribution of water supplies among nations. In addition, natural disasters like droughts and nation’s political and economic constraints can also result in water shortages as well. In those countries experiencing water shortages, people are usually in poor state of health and prone to all kinds of diseases with their low immune system. Expectedly, there is a worrying rise in mortality rate resulting from poor health conditions.
As it concerns one’s survival, engineers have come out with solutions to enhance water availability for everyone. Desalination, a process whereby portable water is produced by removing salt out of seawater, has been commonly practiced worldwide, especially in Middle East. However, due to its high cost and energy-consumption, impoverished nations are not able to have it established to resolve the problem. On the other hand, engineers have also adopted the idea of recycling waste water and sewage treatment, reducing water usage and setting up decentralized distilled units that could possibly relieve water shortage issues.
For these reasons, engineers play a significant role in present society and possibly, they could formulate feasible yet low-cost solutions to address to current water shortages, provided considering the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development.
• National Academy of Engineering (2008). Grand Challenges for Engineering; Provide access to clean water. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9142.aspx
“Clean water has been a scarcity in Earth.” Without much doubt, few will object to such statement. Now, many parts of the world have been experiencing water shortages and unfortunately, it has also become a rising problem that relates to the survival of every living organism. Basically, water serves as the main purpose of hydrating our bodies and maintaining the proper functioning of our biological system. Furthermore, it is used for domestic, agricultural and commercial purposes and not forgetting the natural-occurring water movement cycle which essentially sustains lives.
This problem, however, still persists although there are abundant water supplies throughout the world. The main contributing factor can be explained by the fact of uneven distribution of water supplies among nations. In addition, natural disasters like droughts and nation’s political and economic constraints can also result in water shortages as well. In those countries experiencing water shortages, people are usually in poor state of health and prone to all kinds of diseases with their low immune system. Expectedly, there is a worrying rise in mortality rate resulting from poor health conditions.
As it concerns one’s survival, engineers have come out with solutions to enhance water availability for everyone. Desalination, a process whereby portable water is produced by removing salt out of seawater, has been commonly practiced worldwide, especially in Middle East. However, due to its high cost and energy-consumption, impoverished nations are not able to have it established to resolve the problem. On the other hand, engineers have also adopted the idea of recycling waste water and sewage treatment, reducing water usage and setting up decentralized distilled units that could possibly relieve water shortage issues.
For these reasons, engineers play a significant role in present society and possibly, they could formulate feasible yet low-cost solutions to address to current water shortages, provided considering the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development.
• National Academy of Engineering (2008). Grand Challenges for Engineering; Provide access to clean water. Retrieved September 15, 2008, from http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9142.aspx
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Grammar Exercise
Grammar Exercise on SUBJECT-VERB-AGREEMENT
1.The long ramp, as well as the tiny lots and confusing signs in mall carparks
_________ (is, are) driving motorists crazy.
2.Either John or his sons __________ (is, are) going to get the assets from their company board.
3.There _________ (is, are) still some missing evidence that may lead us to new discoveries in solving this murder case.
4.The recent news on Sichuan Earthquake _______ (bring, brings) fear to the victims’ families and nationwide as well.
5.Half of his animal farm _______ (was, were) wrecked by the massive fire and as a result, a lot of work had to be done to rebuild back what it used to be.
6.A joint session of the ministers and its people ________ (is, are) specially scheduled next week to enhance better understanding of one another.
7.Neither Nat nor Jane ________ (is, are) going to be elected as the incoming President of Sports club.
8.Reliable resources have been reporting that use of healthcare products ________ (do, does) not make any wonders in our body systems.
9.It is the politician himself, not his fiery speeches that ________ (cause, causes) the civilians to go on violent demonstration.
10.Some reports, citing from political sources, _________ (state, states) that this nation is going to experience political unrest if nothing has been done to it.
1.The long ramp, as well as the tiny lots and confusing signs in mall carparks
_________ (is, are) driving motorists crazy.
2.Either John or his sons __________ (is, are) going to get the assets from their company board.
3.There _________ (is, are) still some missing evidence that may lead us to new discoveries in solving this murder case.
4.The recent news on Sichuan Earthquake _______ (bring, brings) fear to the victims’ families and nationwide as well.
5.Half of his animal farm _______ (was, were) wrecked by the massive fire and as a result, a lot of work had to be done to rebuild back what it used to be.
6.A joint session of the ministers and its people ________ (is, are) specially scheduled next week to enhance better understanding of one another.
7.Neither Nat nor Jane ________ (is, are) going to be elected as the incoming President of Sports club.
8.Reliable resources have been reporting that use of healthcare products ________ (do, does) not make any wonders in our body systems.
9.It is the politician himself, not his fiery speeches that ________ (cause, causes) the civilians to go on violent demonstration.
10.Some reports, citing from political sources, _________ (state, states) that this nation is going to experience political unrest if nothing has been done to it.
Portfolio 2 (common grammar mistakes)
Identify 1 of your common grammar mistakes and explain how the grammatical structure should be used correctly in 200-300 words. In addition, include a practice exercise or activity (not already assigned or in the textbook) related to the grammatical structure. The resources in SELF or on ITSELF may help you.
To write a well-written essay, the proper use of grammar forms is one of the few important aspects that the writers should take into consideration of. Basically, it serves as the basic building block in possessing good command of English, however, it has often been neglected by the writers whom generally overlook and place emphasis on other aspects. Meanwhile, I will focus on one of the grammar forms: SUBJECT-VERB-ARGUMENT in particular.
In simple, SUBJECT-VERB-ARGUMENT (SVA) is defined as a singular subject should come with a singular verb whereas a plural subject should follow by a plural verb. SVA may seem to be straightforward and logical initially but with the incidence of complex and contradictory situations, it may confuse the writers, whom in turn become susceptible in making grammatical mistakes in sentences.
To start off, when comes to indefinite pronouns like ‘everyone’, ‘anyone’ and ‘somebody’, they may seem to be plural but in actual fact, they are always singular and require singular verbs. On the contrary, indefinite pronouns like ‘all’ and ‘some’ can be singular or plural, depending on the specific count of the subject. Then for fractional expressions, they can be either singular or plural as well, depending on the meaning it takes.
Regarding on words ending with‘s’, it can take singular or plural verbs by determining the nature of word form. Besides, two subjects joined by a conjunction contain a plural verb naturally but, the writers have to take note of phrases (non- conjunctions) that seem to join two subjects together. It may not necessarily be plural, depending on the root of the word form as well.
Last but not least, when there is a lengthy explanation that comes after the subject, writers tend to misinterpret it as plural form. To be grammatically correct, they just have to stick to the subject without considering the explanation. In addition, the subject always comes after the verb for an expletive construction which involves ‘there’ at the beginning of a sentence.
In conclusion, a good writer is someone who never fails to emphasize on the significance of grammar structure and also, not neglecting other aspects that contribute to a beautiful piece of essay. Hence, the use of proper grammar structure is at its essence of having good understanding of English.
-The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, “Subject and Verb Agreement”, [online document]
Available at: http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp
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