Reading Skills - Part 2 (GEEC1052)

​Reading Skills

• Comparing and contrasting

Multiple Choice

Which is easier to understand?

• The computerized scanner has streamlined the supermarket checkout line. Computerized fingerprint identification allows the police to do in seconds what once took two hours.

• The computerized scanner has streamlined the supermarket checkout line. Similarly, computerized fingerprint identification allows the police to do in seconds what once took two hours.

Why is it easier to understand the second text?​

The computerized scanner has streamlined the supermarket checkout line. Computerized fingerprint identification allows the police to do in seconds what once took two hours.​

The computerized scanner has streamlined the supermarket checkout line. Similarly, computerized fingerprint identification allows the police to do in seconds what once took two hours.​

​The word similarly makes it clear that the writer is comparing the benefits of computerization in both types of work.

Comparison words

• ​(just) as

• ​(just) like

• ​alike

• ​same

• ​both

• ​equally

• ​resemble

• ​likewise

• signal similarities

• ​to show that the second idea is similar to the first one in some way

​Common comparison words:

• in like fashion / manner

• ​similar

• ​similarly

• ​similarity

• ​in similar fashion / manner

• ​in the same way

• ​in common

​Identify the words that show comparison.

​“What do you mean you can’t marry me? We’re perfect for each other. We look exactly alike, and we both love to swim

​Identify the words that show comparison.

1. Both alligators and crocodiles use nerve-packed bumps in their jaws to sense the movement of nearby prey.

2. ​Surveys show that women who work out of the home and stay-at-home moms are equally concerned about their children’s welfare.

Multiple Choice

Which is easier to understand?

• The company pays the manager handsomely. He doesn’t do much work.

• The company pays the manager handsomely even though he doesn’t do much work.

Why is it easier to understand the second text?​

The company pays the manager handsomely. He doesn’t do much work.

The company pays the manager handsomely even though he doesn’t do much work.

• The first text is puzzling: Does the company pay the manager well because he doesn't do much work?​

• The second text makes it clear ​that the company pays the manager well even though he doesn't do much work. The writer is contrasting the amount of pay the manager received to the amount of work he has done.

​

Contrast words

• but

• ​yet

• ​however

• ​although

• ​nevertheless

• ​still

• ​instead

• ​instead of

• signal differences

• ​to show that two things differ in one or more ways

​Common contrast words:

• ​in contrast

• on the other hand

• ​on the contrary

• ​conversely

• ​opposite

• ​even though

• ​as opposed to

• ​in spite of

• ​despite

• ​rather than

• difference

• ​differently

• ​differ (from)

• ​unlike

• ​while

​Identify the word that shows contrast.

“The main difference between us is that I spend all my money on shoes.”

​Identify the words that show contrast.

1. Women communicate differently in the workplace than men do.

2. The average person can safely tolerate ten bee stings for each pound of body weight. This means that the average adult could withstand more than a thousand stings. However, one sting can cause death in a person who is allergic to such stings.

Comparison-contrast Pattern

• ​shows how two things are alike or how they are different, or both

Multiple Choice

Arrange the sentences in an order that makes sense.

• A, B, C

• A, C, B

• B, A, C

• B, C, A

• C, A, B

Comparison-contrast Pattern

​Hospices and hospitals are much more different than they are similar. They are alike in offering health-care services for patients suffering from injury or disease. However, the goal of a hospital is to make patients well, while the concern of a hospice is to relieve the pain and suffering of dying patients.

Open Ended

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