UNIVERSITI TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE - FHEL1012 ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC STUDY ACADEMIC YEAR: 2015/2015 SEMESTER: JAN 2015

TUTORIAL 2

1.0 Identifying the General Purpose of a Paragraph

1. In naval aviation, the AWACS (Airborne Early Warning Command and Control System) plane, or Hawkeye, serves as an air traffic controller, monitoring the airspace around a carrier fleet. It is responsible for surveillance of enemy aircraft and ships as well as directing helicopters to survivors and guarding against air collisions. In addition to servicing the Navy, Hawkeye planes have been used in rescue operations of civilians during hurricane evacuations.

The purpose of this passage is to: A. Inform B. Persuade C. Describe

2. The pilots of the Hawkeye aircraft are the unsung heroes of naval operations. The first in and the last out, these men receive none of the glory bestowed on the Top Guns of F-18 fame. Thanks to Hollywood, fighter pilots have been glorified, but the pilots of the AWACS planes work quietly and diligently, and they deserve praise for their contributions.

The purpose of this passage is to: A. Inform B. Persuade C. Describe

3. Tobacco companies have been in litigation, facing charges that their marketing practices in the past have targeted teenagers. Also, evidence indicates that companies adjusted levels of nicotine in their cigarettes to increase the probability that smokers would become addicted to the product to ensure higher sales in the future.

The purpose of this passage is to: A. Inform B. Persuade C. Describe 4. Circadian rhythms have fascinated scientists for many years. Recognizing that the eye nerves translate information to the brain about the time of day, scientists observe that we adapt to the conditions around us. Also, these researchers have recently discovered that not everyone is alike. For example, teenagers are nocturnal. That is, they are more active at night but do not function as well early in the morning.

The purpose of this passage is to: A. Inform B. Persuade C. Describe

5. Once in a long while, four times so far for me, my mother brings out the metal tube that holds her medical diploma. On the tube are gold circles crossed with seven red lines each-- "joy" ideographs in abstract. There are also little flowers that look like gears for a gold machine. According to the scraps of labels with Chinese and American addresses, stamps, and postmarks, the family airmailed the can from Hong Kong in 1950. It got crushed in the middle, and whoever tried to peel the labels off stopped because the red and gold paint come off too, leaving silver scratches that rust. Somebody tried to pry the end off before discovering that the tube falls apart. When I open it, the smell of China flies out, a thousand-year-old bat flying heavy-headed out of the Chinese caverns where bats are as white as dust, a smell that comes from long ago, far back in the brain.

The purpose of this passage is to: A. Inform B. Persuade C. Describe

2.0 Identifying Specific Purpose in a Passage

Passage 1: Black History Month

Black History Month is unnecessary. In a place and time in which the United States of America has received its first ever African-American president, one can and indeed, should move to a post-racial approach to education. As Detroit Free Press columnist Rochelle Riley wrote in a February 1 column calling for an end to Black History Month, "I propose that, for the first time in American history, this country has reached a point where we can stop celebrating separately, stop learning separately, stop being American separately."

In addition to being unnecessary, the idea that African-American history should be focused on in a given month suggests that it belongs in that month alone. Instead, it is important to incorporate African-American history into what is taught every single day as American history. It needs to be recreated as part of mainstream thought and not as an optional, often irrelevant, side note. We should focus efforts on pushing schools to diversify and broaden their curricula.

There are a number of other reasons to abolish it. First of all, it has become a shallow commercial ritual that does not even succeed in its (limited and misguided) goal of focusing for one month on a sophisticated, intelligent appraisal of the contributions and experiences of African-Americans throughout history. Second, there is a paternalistic flavor to the mandated bestowing of a month in which to study African-American history that is overcome if we instead assert the need for a comprehensive curriculum. Third, the idea of Black History Month suggests that the knowledge imparted in that month is for African-Americans only, rather than for all people.

The author’s specific purpose in this passage is to: A. Argue that Black History Month should not be so commercial. B. Argue that Black History Month should be abolished. C. Argue that Black History Month should be maintained. D. Suggest that African-American history be removed from school curriculum

Passage 2: Visual Perception

It is tempting to think that your eyes are simply mirrors that reflect whatever is in front of them. Researchers, however, have shown that your brain is constantly working to create the impression of a continuous, uninterrupted world.

For instance, in the last 10 minutes, you have blinked your eyes around 200 times. You have probably not been aware of any of these interruptions in your visual world. Something you probably have not seen in a long time without the aid of a mirror is your nose. It is always right there, down in the bottom corner of your vision, but your brain filters it out so that you are not aware of your nose unless you purposefully look at it.

Nor are you aware of the artery that runs right down the middle of your retina. It creates a large blind spot in your visual field, but you never notice the hole it leaves. To see this blind spot, try the following: Draw an O and an X horizontally on a blank paper. Cover your left eye with your hand. With your right eye, look at the O on the left. As you move your head closer to the O, the X will disappear as it enters the blind spot caused by your optical nerve.

Indeed, your brain works hard to make the world look continuous! What is the main purpose of this passage? A. To persuade the reader to pay close attention to blind spots. B. To explain the way visual perception works. C. To persuade the reader to consult an optometrist if the O and X disappear. D. To prove that vision is a passive process.

3.0 Recognizing Author’s Use of Fallacies in Achieving Purpose Identify the (one) fallacy committed in each of the following situations. Situation 1: The local (current) mayor is running for reelection. He has a very good record with the community and his opponent is finding it hard to come up with reasons why she should be elected instead. During the campaign, she writes an update on her social network site status, telling voters this: “The current mayor hasn’t been effective in his job. All we need to do is look around a little more closely. Just look at the harm that pornography has caused to our city. Let us not forget the recent exhibit of rather scantily dressed Asian and South American women at a local art gallery. Did you really think it was right for him to have allowed that kind of degradation of women and elevation of pornography? Pornography harms everyone, not just children.“Voters need to speak out against pornography. Elect me as mayor because I am totally against pornography and, besides, the current mayor has not been effective, so it’s time for a change.”

Situation 2:

Suppose the following were the words of a speaker at a symposium on weapons control:

“If we allow people to carry clubs and sticks around in their vehicles in the name of self defence, don’t come crying in panic to the police when there are knives, machetes and eventually, pistols sitting comfortably in everyone’s backseat or even handbag. There should be no allowance made for any kind of item that can be used as a deadly weapon.”

Situation 3:

A letter to an editor of a newspaper might read as follows:

"Politician Jones says that we should not support and neither should we fund the attack submarine program. I disagree with his stand entirely. I can't understand why he wants to leave us defenseless like that."

Situation 4:

The following might be the transcript of a debater’s utterance:

"The war in Iraq is necessary and it is hard to understand why some people just blindly go against it. People that protest the war in Iraq are either slaves of the U.N., or Al-Qaeda sympathizers."

Situation 5:

Consider this a possible excerpt from a newspaper article on insomnia.

“Put aside all reading material when at least two hours before going to bed at night. Many people stay up all night after reading a suspense novel or one that deals with horror. Obviously they would not have had difficulty if they had not been exposed to such suspenseful or horrific content.”