Reading

1. Skimming

1. Read the title of the chapter from a scientific book and say what it is about.

2. Skim the text and give the gist of it in a few sentences.

2. Scanning

1. Read the text again and see what you can say about its layout.

1. say if it is divided into paragraphs and how many;

2. say if this formal division has anything to do with the division of its content, if it reflects the development of the topic discussed.

2. Comment on the content structure of each paragraph.

1. pick out 5 main statements (postulates)  one in each paragraph;

2. extract the instances of definitions, clarifications, argumentations, illustrations which develop or support the statements in each paragraph;

3. pick out sentences in which the author gives counterarguments or calls in question the statement offered before;

4. pick out instances of generalisation and evaluation as opposed to concrete examples.

3. Enumerate the sources of difficulties in defining the domain of style.

4. Differentiate between the narrow and the wide scopes of the term style.

5. Name the main focus of the text. Say if it is a broad or a narrow view.

3. Close reading

1. Comment on the logical connections between the statement, arguments, examples, etc. within each paragraph.

2. Pick out connectors conveying the relations of cause and consequence, contradiction, etc.

3. Comment on the choice of the vocabulary typical of scholarly writing (abstract nouns, scientific terms, etc.). Say if the vocabulary is emotionally coloured or neutral, if it is colloquial or bookish.

4. Comment on the grammatical structure of sentences and the grammatical devices which contribute to the matter-of-fact, objective manner of presentation (passive constructions, complex sentences, the use of connectives; quotations, the use of we, etc.).

5. Say why style is a relational term.

6. Summarize all the characteristics which help classify the text as a piece of scholarly writing.

4. Critical reading

1. Say if the author’s treatment of the topic covers all the aspects of the problem.

2. Prove that the reasoning used by the author is quite logical and convincing.

3. Say if the manner of discussion chosen by the author meets the demands of organizing scientific debate.

Word study

1. Match the two columns.

1) select	a) final, conclusive, fundamental; remote
2) scope	b) drive, force, press
3) adapt	c) narrate, tell; have connection
4) associate	d) sphere of concern, field, territory of control
5) relate	e) verify, validate
6) confirm	f) choose from among several, pick out
7) domain	g) adjust to a specific use or situation
8) intimate	h) range of one’s perception, thought or action
9) urge	i) connect, link, join together
10) ultimate	j) marked by close acquaintance; personal, private

2. Use an English-English dictionary to differentiate between

a) the following synonyms:

to choose  to select  to pick

to associate  to connect  to join  to link

to confirm  to validate  to verify

2. different meanings of the word intimate.

3. Point out different meanings of the words intimate and to confirm in the following.

intimate: ~ feelings; ~ diary; ~ friend; ~ relations; ~ restaurant; ~ acquaintance with the subject;

to confirm:~ a treaty; ~ an appointment; ~ smb in his decision.

4. Give the Russian for:

a confirmed invalid, a confirmed bachelor, a confirmed countryman; a confirmed habit;

selected works; selected goods;

select society, a select club, a few select friends.

5. Fill in the blanks with the words (or their derivatives) from exercise 1.

1. We shall narrow...of the term to something more adapted to the present purpose.

2. Traditionally an ... connection has been seen between style and an author’s personality.

3. This is ... by the Latin tag “Stilus virum arguit” (Style proclaims the man).

4. Style is a ... term.

5. It seems to ... that each writer has a linguistic thumb-print.

6. This brings us to the most specific ... of style.

7. It is arguable that the soundness of the statements about wider matters such as authorial style relies ... on the statements we can make about particular texts.

8. It is particularly ... with written literary texts, and this is the sense of the term which concerns us.

9. ... it is ... from a total linguistic repertoire that constitutes a style.