ENGLE205F

Module 3

Skills and strategies for

academic reading
Course team
Developer: Philip Leetch (Consultant)

Members: Ronnie Carr, OUHK (Coordinator)

Peter Storey, OUHK
Chris Baker, OUHK (Designer)

Production
ETPU Publishing Team

Copyright acknowledgements
The following copyright materials (HCP070274OU) have been copied in
accordance with the terms of the licence issued by The Hong Kong
Reprographic Rights Licensing Society Limited. You are not permitted to
make any further copy of the materials, or to sell, or make them available
to others.

Figure on p. 8.

Printed March 2008.

Copyright © The Open University of Hong Kong, 2006.

Reprinted May 2014.

All rights reserved.

No part of this material may be reproduced in any form
by any means without permission in writing from the
President, The Open University of Hong Kong.

The Open University of Hong Kong

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Contents

Introduction 1

Understanding your reading purpose 2

Reading for main points 4

Orienting yourself to a text 4
Skimming a text for its general meaning 7
Locating key ideas in a paragraph: using topic sentences 13
Understanding the logic and sequence of ideas in a text 16
Discourse markers 20

Reading intensively 23
Scanning 23
Strategies for understanding the meanings of unfamiliar words 25
Identifying possible synonyms for key words and phrases 30
Unpacking complex sentences 32
Identifying examples 34

Identifying an author’s opinions, attitudes and bias 36

Identifying a writer’s attitude 36
Determining the intended audience of a text 40

Putting it all together 45

Conclusion 49
 Module 3 1

Introduction
This module aims to give you practice in a variety of skills and strategies
for dealing with academic texts. As in Modules 1 and 2, the activities in
this module do not relate directly to IELTS test questions but instead
focus on developing your ability to comprehend a range of academic
reading texts. In Module 7, you will be asked to apply this ability to
reading passages similar to those that might be used in the IELTS reading
test.

After discussing the reading process in general, Module 3 introduces you

to some skills and strategies which should help you to improve your
comprehension of various kinds of academic texts. This module is
divided into three main parts, with each part representing a particular set
of key reading skills and strategies. Specifically, you will learn how to:

• orient yourself towards a reading passage and predict its likely

content and structure;
• read quickly for main points by focusing on first and last paragraphs
and topic sentences;
• read intensively for specific information;
• assess how relationships between ideas and paragraphs are ordered
and organized, and note how discourse markers are used;

• determine the meaning of unfamiliar words from context, and

knowledge of word forms, word roots, prefixes and suffixes;

• identify possible synonyms for key words and phrases;

• analyse complex sentences to identify their key ideas;

• identify examples and distinguish supporting information from main

points;

• identify an author’s opinions, attitudes and bias; and

• assess the intended audience of a text.

We begin this module by looking briefly at the importance of determining

our reading purpose. Once we have ascertained why we are reading a
passage, we are better able to determine how we should read it. We
practise each of the three sets of skills above by looking at a variety of
academic reading passages that deal with topics such as computers, health
and medicine, drugs, technology, astrobiology, genetic engineering and
cosmetic surgery. Although these texts are ‘academic’ in terms of their
structure, style and language, their content is quite general and
understanding them does not require any specialist knowledge. They also
deal with topics that you may come across in reading passages in the
IELTS test.
2 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Understanding your reading

purpose
Whenever you begin to read a text, you should try to ask yourself ‘why
am I reading this?’ For example, when you read a university course
prospectus for the next semester, you are probably trying to find out the
aims, content coverage and assessment requirements of a particular
programme or course. Similarly, if you are reading a scientific report on a
laboratory experiment, your aim is probably to discover the results and
their implications.

Activity 3.1
Think about the following kinds of texts and what your main reading
purpose might be as you approach each of them:

1 user instructions for installing new computer software

2 a newspaper editorial that is critical of a new government

immigration policy

3 a chapter in an accounting textbook that outlines procedures for

assessing a client’s property tax

4 a memo to student teachers from their lecturer reminding them about

suitable behaviour when making school visits and observing classes

5 a journal article that reports on research into the hole in the ozone
layer.

In each of the above texts, an understanding of your reading purpose will

guide the way you read. For example, if you are a student teacher reading
text (4) above, you might quickly skim over any introductory information
and then focus your attention on specific language related to ‘dos and
don’ts’ when making a school visit. In contrast, if you had a particular
interest in the new policy in text (2), you might read the introduction in
the editorial quite closely to establish the writer’s views and his/her
position on the policy.

Once you have determined your reason or purpose for reading a text, you
can then decide how to read it – for example, whether you need to focus
on key points, specific details or the writer’s opinion.
 Module 3 3

Activity 3.2
Imagine that you are doing some research for an essay you have to write
for a university course. You have found 15 journal articles that relate
broadly to your essay topic, some of which may be worth using and some
not. You have two hours to review them to decide if they are worth
reading more closely. Each journal article has 15–20 pages, so you have
about 200–300 pages to cover in two hours! How would you approach
these articles to determine whether or not they are worth reading in more
detail? What reading skills or strategies might you use in the two hours
you have available?

Your task in the above activity was to think about skills and strategies
you could use to quickly review each article and determine whether or not
its main ideas were useful for your essay. Once you know the main points
of an article, you are in a better position to decide if you should read it
more intensively. Let’s look more closely at skills/strategies for reading
for main points or ideas.
4 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Reading for main points

Reading for the main points entails a number of skills and strategies.
Many of these are related to using your prior knowledge of the structure
and language of a text to predict and locate key information. Skimming
skills – such as looking quickly at the title and paragraph topic sentences
– are also critical. As you will see in Module 4, many of the prediction
skills and strategies for reading a text effectively can also be applied to
improving your listening comprehension.

Orienting yourself to a text

We saw in the last section that we bring different purposes to different kinds
of reading texts, and that this determines the way we read. When
approaching a text, we first have to orient ourselves to its structure and
content.

Look for a minute at the following passage which tells users of the
OUHK’s Online Learning Environment (OLE) how to save OLE email
messages to their hard disks. What do you think would be your main
purpose when reading this?

Reading passage 1

Saving your email messages on your hard disk

To clear your email storage space, you can save some of your
emails on your hard disk:

1 Create a new folder (you can name it ‘emails’) on your desktop or in

a drive of your hard disk.

2 Open the message that you want to download.

3 Click Save as from the ‘File’ menu. Select the folder that you have
created to store your downloaded message.

In the ‘File name’ box, rename the message by deleting the long file
number and retyping a name for the file.
 Module 3 5

In the ‘Save as type’ box, select ‘Web Page HTML only (*.htm, *.html)’
and then click the Save button. The message will then be saved in the
folder you created in your hard disk.

Note: If the email message has an attachment, the attachment will not be
saved in the hard disk. You will need to open the attachment and use the
Save option to save your attachment separately.

4 Once you have saved the email message on your hard disk, you
should delete the email message from your email folder in order
to clear the email space.

Our purpose when reading instructions such as these is usually to

determine what procedures we need to follow, and in what order.

Go back to Reading passage 1, and think about the following questions:

• Would you agree that this passage has features that are common to a
set of instructions? If so, what structure, layout and language
features are generally distinctive to instructional texts like this?

• What verb form is mostly used in this kind of text? Is this verb form
commonly used in instructional texts? Why?

• Why is a numbering system used in a passage like this? Why do you

think a graphic has been included?

You probably had no difficulty in answering the questions above. This

was because you were able to use your background knowledge of
different kinds of reading texts to predict the structure of the passage.
Because of your background knowledge of instructional or technical
passages, you know that they often have certain features. For example,
they usually include diagrams; and they also normally have numbers
because they are explaining sequenced procedures. Short sentences
without any modifiers (such as ‘might’, ‘can’, etc.) are also common
because instructions aim to give the reader simple but clear information
on how to do something.
6 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Your background knowledge of instructional or technical reading

passages also helps you to predict content and vocabulary. It tells you
that you can expect to see the use of particular language such as the
imperative verb form (e.g. ‘create’, ‘open’, ‘click’, ‘select’) because
instructions are telling the user what to do. As Reading passage 1 is about
computers and email, you are not surprised to find specific vocabulary
(such as ‘hard disk’, ‘desktop’, ‘folder’ and ‘delete’).

By recognizing that this text is set of instructions, we can therefore also

predict much of its specific form, layout, and grammatical structures.
Similarly, by recognizing that the passage is about email and computers,
we can predict much of its content and vocabulary, even before we read it
closely.

This is also true for other kinds of reading passages. By orienting

ourselves to a passage – that is, recognizing what kind of text it is, and
predicting what kind of layout and language it might have – we can begin
to comprehend its meaning.

Activity 3.3
Look again at the types of texts you came across in Activity 3.1, and
think about the kinds of structures, layouts, content and language they
might have. In each case, consider whether the text is likely to include
graphics, bullets or numbers; how headings and paragraphs might be
organized; whether the language will be persuasive or factual; and what
sorts of grammatical forms (e.g. different kinds of verb tenses) are likely
to be used. Think also about some of the vocabulary that might be used
for each topic:

1 a newspaper editorial that is critical of a new government

immigration policy

2 a chapter in an accounting textbook that outlines procedures for

assessing a client’s property tax

3 a memo to student teachers from their lecturer reminding them of

suitable behaviour when making school visits and observing classes

4 a journal article that reports on research into the hole in the ozone
layer.

List different features and predict some possible language for each
passage.

Once you have oriented yourself to a particular reading passage, and

predicted some of the sorts of content and language that might be used,
you are now ready to skim read it.
 Module 3 7

Skimming a text for its general meaning

Skimming a reading passage means reading it quickly to get the main
idea of the text.

How do we go about this? We can, for example:

1 Look at the title. What key words does it include? What does it
suggest about the passage?

2 Look at the text’s layout and structure. Are there numbered parts?
Are there sub-headings? Are there boxed pieces of information? Are
these labelled? How do sub-headings and any boxed pieces of
information relate to the main title? Can you see any progression of
ideas?

3 Look at any figures or graphics. What do they illustrate? Do they

relate to the key words in the title and sub-headings?

4 Read the first and last paragraphs quickly. These often contain the
main ideas.

5 Read quickly the topic sentences (usually the first sentence) of the
other paragraphs. These sentences usually contain the main idea of a
paragraph.

6 Set yourself a time limit.

You are now going to practise skimming a book review about

acupuncture. Remember that your aim is to discover the main ideas
quickly, not read and understand every word in the passage.

Before you begin the activity, take a moment to orient yourself to the text
and think about the following questions:

1 What do you expect to find in a book review?

2 What do you know about acupuncture? What vocabulary do you

think you might find in this passage?

We hope your answer will be roughly similar to ours below:

A book review will describe a book and its contents, move on to a

more general discussion of some of the issues raised, comment on the
strengths and weaknesses of the book, and suggest what sort of reader
might benefit from/enjoy it.

Of course, you may be an expert on acupuncture, but an ordinary

person faced with the word ‘acupuncture’ might predict that the
following words could appear in the passage: ‘needles’, ‘Chinese’,
‘aches and pains’, ‘giving up smoking’, and ‘alternative/non-
mainstream medicine’.
8 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Activity 3.4
Set yourself a maximum time limit of two minutes for reading, and skim
the review, using the suggestions above. After you have skimmed the
book review, answer the questions that follow.

Reading passage 2

Does it really work?

The History of Acupuncture

Orient Press

Coffee table reading

1 Printed on glossy paper, this is an elegant, well-illustrated book. The

title, though, is rather a misnomer as after the first chapter the author
concentrates on the practice of acupuncture and seeks to promote its
use among readers. In this way, the book is a highly partisan one.

2 Acupuncture is no longer something utterly exotic known to only a

few. The author tells us that, quite apart from its high reputation in
East Asia, more than two million Americans a year undergo
acupuncture treatment. Its exact origins are unknown but we have
evidence of its use in China for the last two millennia. Treatment, as
readers will know, involves the insertion of long thin needles into
special points on the body chosen by the acupuncturist depending on
the patient’s precise ailment.

Restoring the yin yang balance

3 What most readers will not know and what is explained most clearly
is the theory behind acupuncture. Some very beautiful old diagrams
of the body help readers follow the explanation. The health of the
body depends on a balance between the forces of yin and yang,
 Module 3 9

between the cold, slow and passive and the warm, fast and active.
When the balance is disturbed the flow of qi, vital energy, along the
twenty energy channels of the body, is blocked. The acupuncturist
analyses the situation carefully and selects some of the two thousand
acupuncture points on the body and by use of the needles unblocks
the channels, gets the qi flowing again and slowly but surely
restores the patient to health.

4 One of the positive aspects of Chinese traditional medicine is that it

is holistic. Patients are asked about their lifestyles, diet and sleeping
patterns. Where the practitioner thinks necessary, changes will be
recommended.

A painless painkiller

5 Naturally, if you, like this reviewer, have not tried acupuncture

before you might be anxious about how it feels and any risks
involved. The author goes out of his way to reassure. As long as you
take the obvious precaution of going to an experienced and qualified
acupuncturist (and who would allow just anyone to stick long sharp
objects in them?), you should feel no pain and suffer no ill effects.

6 Acupuncture seems to have a wide range of applications. The book

discusses the relief of pain at some length and details research
supporting its efficacy in relieving victims of osteoarthritis of the
knee. It is used to alleviate pain associated with migraine, carpal
tunnel syndrome and a diversity of muscular problems. It can help
in the rehabilitation of stroke patients, relieve the side-effects of
chemotherapy and help with asthma. It is also frequently used in the
battle against various types of addiction. The author actually
remarks that patients undergoing acupuncture often comment on a
general feeling of well-being and an overall improvement in health.

Too good to be true?

7 It was at that point that alarm bells started going off for this reader.
How and why are these needles doing so much good and achieving
such wonderful results? Yes, the writer has explained about the
channels and qi, but we know a lot about the human body and there
are no energy channels running through it, nor are yin and yang
scientific concepts.

8 This is what the book lacks: a discussion of the scientific status of

acupuncture. It seems that not much good research has been done.
Plenty of small-scale pieces of work have been done and they
should not be ignored, but we await a major study. There is an
obvious problem: when you carry out research of this type you need
a control group. When a tablet is being investigated it is easy to give
the control group a tablet lacking the active ingredient and no one
but the researcher knows who is receiving the chemical being tested.
You can hardly, however, persuade people they are having needles
inserted into them when they are not.
10 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Alternative views

9 In the face of this unsatisfactory situation, a number of theories have

been proposed. The most widely accepted seems to be that the
needles in some way cause the release of neurotransmitters that in
turn trigger pain-killing endomorphins that explain the physical
relief and general feeling of comfort mentioned by patients.

10 The main alternative view, towards which your reviewer tends to

lean, is that the many successes of acupuncture, and no one denies
they do exist, are a consequence of the placebo effect. Acupuncture
works because people believe it works. The writer of this book
would, however, disagree most strenuously, but at least he should
have discussed the matter.

11 Despite these reservations, this is a handsome, well-written book,

but it is for your coffee table not your study.

Source of graphic: Fontaine, K L (2005) Complementary and Alternative

Therapies for Nursing Practice, 2nd edn, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Prentice Hall, Figure 12.1b.

1 What do the picture, the sub-headings and the layout tell us in this
book review?

2 What does the title tell us? Do you think it’s a helpful title for
describing the main ideas in the review? Why/why not?

3 Having read the first and last paragraphs, what is the reviewer’s
general view of the book?

Now try practising the skimming skills you have learned with another
reading text.

Remember the procedures for skimming a reading passage:

1 Look at the title.

2 Look at the layout and structure.

3 Look at any figures or graphics.

4 Read the first and last paragraphs quickly.

5 Read quickly the topic sentences (usually the first sentence) of the
other paragraphs.

6 Set yourself a time limit.

Activity 3.5
 Module 3 11

The following reading is a science magazine article about

nanotechnology. If you don’t know what nanotechnology is, try to guess
what this word might mean. (‘Nano’ means tiny and a ‘nanometre’ is an
incredibly small measurement – one billionth of a metre.) This passage
has been written for non-experts. Use your knowledge of magazine
writing and of nanotechnology to orient yourself to the possible structure
and content of the article, and then use the skimming guidelines above to
skim the article. Don’t take more than three minutes to skim the article.
(NB: There are no graphics or sub-headings in this passage, so you need
to depend on the first and last paragraphs and the topic sentences of the
other paragraphs to get the general meaning of the passage quickly.)

Reading passage 3

The new kid on the block

by J W Carr

1 Nanotechnology is the ‘new kid on the block’, and as is usual with

new ideas or developments, there is a lot of rumour going about, a
lot of gossip and innuendo, even some fear. Perhaps it would help if
we calm down for a minute and try to get some facts about
nanotechnology before we form an opinion on it.

2 First, what is nanotechnology? It is technology on the scale of the

nanometre, one billionth of a metre. That is the atomic level
(average atomic size is 0.1 to 0.2 nanometres) and the level of DNA
(a strand is about 2 nm wide). Why is it special? Apart from being
extremely small and being able to get to places we cannot usually
go, things are simply not the same at the nano-level. At this level,
catalysts can, for example, become far more active, and materials
far stronger.

3 When did nanotechnology emerge? The great physicist Richard

Feynman imagined it in 1959. It didn’t start happening though for
another twenty or so years. Two early breakthroughs were the
discovery of fullerenes or buckyballs in 1985, and then of carbon
nanotubes in 1991. The latter are especially exciting as they are very
light and very strong with a multitude of applications.

4 Has nanotechnology really taken off? Yes, there are already

hundreds of companies working in the field, a lot of products being
planned or produced and laboratories all round the world carrying
out research into the field. Billions of dollars are being invested.
What changes are we going to see as a result of nanotechnology?
That’s not entirely predictable because we are discovering things we
knew nothing about before and then thinking of ways to use them,
but we can confidently look forward to amazing breakthroughs in
computers with nano-chips. The implications for medicine are also
enormous with ‘nano-smartbombs’ that can track down and destroy
cancers, ‘nano-probes’ to carry out medical tests and ‘nano-
messengers’ to deliver drugs to different parts of the body, slipping
through various immune-system barriers that make this difficult at
present. Nanotechnology products also seem to a have lot of
potential in cleaning up the environment. There should be new ways
to locate and remove dangerous pollutants from water and soil.
12 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

More environmentally-friendly catalytic converters and batteries are

in the pipeline. Space exploration on a tiny scale will reduce the
prohibitive costs of space science. Bullet-proof material should
protect people from attack and special sensors may be able to warn
us of chemical/biological hazards. No doubt there will be many
military uses as well, but we will not claim them as a benefit. More
frivolously, a drink is being developed that will change flavour and
colour at the wish of the purchaser. Finally as an example of a
product that is already on the market, mention can be made of new
clear sunscreens that have proved to be highly effective at absorbing
harmful rays and can be expected to play a part in reducing skin
cancer.

5 New developments for nanotechnology are already on the horizon.

In many ways, life itself is a form of nanotechnology and we can
learn from biological processes. Bacteria, proteins and viruses may
be able to work with nanotechnology. There are plans to ‘grow’
computer parts inside small organisms. Nano-materials will be able
to assemble themselves. They might even be engineered to grow.
That has led to a vision of our sending ‘nanobots’ to the Moon with
instructions to prepare it for human colonization.

6 Well, surely, then, this is a ‘new kid’ we can warmly embrace, but
nothing is always that simple and there are, as ever, nay-sayers.
Let’s address their worries calmly and see if they can possibly
outbalance all these benefits. The problem began in 1986, when
nanotechnology had hardly been born, with a book called ‘The
Engines of Creation’ in which the author argued that self-replicating
robots would take over the world, with disastrous reactions turning
the whole planet into a grey jelly. So far it has not happened.

7 What are the other fears? Nano-particles can accumulate in the bodies
of animals and do damage. Carbon nano-particles do not set off
immune reactions but can actually enter cells; they might therefore
be used by bacteria to infect humans. Neutral nano-products might
be hijacked and used maliciously by our natural enemies. As the
nano-scale makes materials behave differently, we must not assume
that the changes are benign; normally useful and harmless
substances may become toxic. Nano-materials are not natural to our
world. We are creating something new and releasing it in increasing
quantities into the environment without knowing the long-term
effects.

8 It is difficult to refute these points. It is true that anything in the

environment will appear in organisms including ourselves.
Somewhere far in the future there might be a scare involving
nano-materials, even a mini-outbreak of something we do not like.
Naturally we must monitor what is happening as we use these new
products. However, none of these add up to sufficient reason to halt
the development of nanotechnology. Change in our world is fast and
at times we do not feel comfortable with it. It would be nice to sit
and debate nuclear energy, engineering or nanotechnology for some
years before deciding whether to use it or not. But this is not
realistic. The world is not like that. Always trying to stand in the
way of progress is a mistake. Yes, someone could have looked at the
steam engine and said, ‘Let’s not use it. We don’t really know what
the impact will be. People will start burning coal to make steam and
 Module 3 13

the air will be polluted. And we do not know what the impact of all
that water vapour will be.’ Well, yes, the coal burning had its
downside, yet would anyone, apart from a few dreamers, want to
return to a pre-industrial world. There were losses, but surely the
gains were greater?

9 Nanotechnology will not be all plain-sailing, but its benefits will far
outweigh its drawbacks. You can be confident about that.

Source: Science Horizons (2006) April:45–46.

Locating key ideas in a paragraph: using

topic sentences
In the passage above, you did not have the benefit of graphics or sub-
headings to signal main ideas. Also, the first paragraph doesn’t tell us
much about nanotechnology, except that it is a new kind of technology
and that some people do not know much about it and are even frightened
of it. You therefore have to rely on the key information in the other
paragraphs to get the main ideas of the text.

We saw in Module 1 that the topic sentence gives the main idea of a
paragraph, and is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. The topic
sentences in the nanotechnology text are easy to identify because they are
all at the beginning of the paragraphs. Some of them are actually
questions which are answered by the rest of the information in the
paragraph.
14 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Activity 3.6
Look at the key ideas in each of the topic sentences in the
nanotechnology passage. Then match each of the paragraph summaries in
the left column below with the paragraph that it describes. One answer
has already been given as an example.

Paragraph summaries Paragraph #

a Current applications of nanotechnology

b Nanotechnology is a very new kind of 1

technology which some people are ignorant and
even fearful of.

c Other fears and potential health and safety

concerns

d Initial worries and fears about nanotechnology

e Ultimately, the benefits outweigh the potential

risks.

f Definition of nanotechnology

g New and possible future developments

h History of the emergence and development of

nanotechnology

i Fears are valid but they should not stop us from

embracing the technology.
 Module 3 15

Activity 3.7
Now, go back to Reading passage 2 (the book review ‘Does it really
work: The History of Acupuncture’) and skim the topic sentences of the
paragraphs. Try to make a skeleton or outline of the text by completing
the table below. Use just a few words or a short sentence to describe the
main point in each paragraph.

Paragraph # Paragraph summaries

10

11
16 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Understanding the logic and sequence of

ideas in a text
As you completed Activities 3.6 and 3.7, did you notice that the writers
used certain conventions for organizing their paragraphs? For example, in
Reading passage 3 on nanotechnology, after giving the reader an
introduction to the topic, the writer:

• gave a definition;
• provided some background history;
• outlined current uses of nanotechnology;
• suggested possible future uses;
• discussed potential problems or concerns;
• mentioned potential solutions for these concerns; and
• recapped the main idea.

Some conventions for organizing writing logically

In most academic reading texts, writers follow some set rules or
conventions for organizing their ideas. For example, a definition of a key
topic is usually given at the beginning of a passage, and the historical
background to a topic is described before its potential future development
is discussed. Also, general points are usually made before specific details
are provided. Likewise, writers usually discuss solutions after they
describe a problem. If writers are discussing more than one problem, they
often describe and explain each one in a separate paragraph and usually
describe a more serious problem after a less serious one.

To illustrate some of these conventions, look at the cohesive links in the

nanotechnology text.
 Module 3 17

Reading passage 3

The new kid on the block

1 Nanotechnology is the ‘new kid on the block’, and as is usual with
new ideas or developments, there is a lot of rumour going about, a
lot of gossip and innuendo, even some fear. Perhaps it would help if
we calm down for a minute and try to get some facts about
nanotechnology before we form an opinion on it.

2 First, what is nanotechnology? It is technology on the scale of the

nanometre, one billionth of a metre. That is the atomic level (average
atomic size is 0.1 to 0.2 nanometres) and the level of DNA (a strand is
about 2 nm wide). Why is it special? Apart from being extremely
small and being able to get to places we cannot usually go, things are
simply not the same at the nano-level. At this level, catalysts can, for
example, become far more active, and materials far stronger.

3 When did nanotechnology emerge? The great physicist Richard

Feynman imagined it in 1959. It didn’t start happening though for
another twenty or so years. Two early breakthroughs were the
discovery of fullerenes or buckyballs in 1985, and then of carbon
nanotubes in 1991. The latter are especially exciting as they are very
light and very strong with a multitude of applications.

4 Has nanotechnology really taken off? Yes, there are already

hundreds of companies working in the field, a lot of products being
planned or produced and laboratories all round the world carrying
out research into the field. Billions of dollars are being invested.
What changes are we going to see as a result of nanotechnology?
That’s not entirely predictable because we are discovering things we
knew nothing about before and then thinking of ways to use them,
but we can confidently look forward to amazing breakthroughs in
computers with nano-chips. The implications for medicine are also
enormous with ‘nano-smartbombs’ that can track down and destroy
cancers, ‘nano-probes’ to carry out medical tests and ‘nano-
messengers’ to deliver drugs to different parts of the body, slipping
through various immune-system barriers that make this difficult at
present. Nanotechnology products also seem to a have lot of
potential in cleaning up the environment. There should be new ways
to locate and remove dangerous pollutants from water and soil.
More environmentally-friendly catalytic converters and batteries are
in the pipeline. Space exploration on a tiny scale will reduce the
prohibitive costs of space science. Bullet-proof material should
protect people from attack and special sensors may be able to warn
us of chemical/biological hazards. No doubt there will be many
military uses as well, but we will not claim them as a benefit. More
frivolously, a drink is being developed that will change flavour and
colour at the wish of the purchaser. Finally as an example of a
product that is already on the market, mention can be made of new
clear sunscreens that have proved to be highly effective at absorbing
harmful rays and can be expected to play a part in reducing skin
cancer.

5 New developments for nanotechnology are already on the horizon.

In many ways, life itself is a form of nanotechnology and we can
learn from biological processes. Bacteria, proteins and viruses may
18 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

be able to work with nanotechnology. There are plans to ‘grow’

computer parts inside small organisms. Nano-materials will be able
to assemble themselves. They might even be engineered to grow.
That has led to a vision of our sending ‘nanobots’ to the Moon with
instructions to prepare it for human colonization.

6 Well, surely, then, this is a ‘new kid’ we can warmly embrace, but
nothing is always that simple and there are, as ever, nay-sayers.
Let’s address their worries calmly and see if they can possibly
outbalance all these benefits. The problem began in 1986, when
nanotechnology had hardly been born, with a book called The
‘Engines of Creation’ in which the author argued that self-
replicating robots would take over the world, with disastrous
reactions turning the whole planet into a grey jelly. So far it has not
happened.

7 What are the other fears? Nano-particles can accumulate in the bodies
of animals and do damage. Carbon nano-particles do not set off
immune reactions but can actually enter cells; they might therefore
be used by bacteria to infect humans. Neutral nano-products might
be hijacked and used maliciously by our natural enemies. As the
nano-scale makes materials behave differently, we must not assume
that the changes are benign; normally useful and harmless
substances may become toxic. Nano-materials are not natural to our
world. We are creating something new and releasing it in increasing
quantities into the environment without knowing the long-term
effects.

8 It is difficult to refute these points. It is true that anything in the

environment will appear in organisms including ourselves.
Somewhere far in the future there might be a scare involving
nano-materials, even a mini-outbreak of something we do not like.
Naturally we must monitor what is happening as we use these new
products. However, none of these add up to sufficient reason to halt
the development of nanotechnology. Change in our world is fast and
at times we do not feel comfortable with it. It would be nice to sit
and debate nuclear energy, engineering or nanotechnology for some
years before deciding whether to use it or not. But this is not
realistic. The world is not like that. Always trying to stand in the
way of progress is a mistake. Yes, someone could have looked at the
steam engine and said, ‘Let’s not use it. We don’t really know what
the impact will be. People will start burning coal to make steam and
the air will be polluted. And we do not know what the impact of all
that water vapour will be.’ Well, yes, the coal burning had its
downside, yet would anyone, apart from a few dreamers, want to
return to a pre-industrial world. There were losses, but surely the
gains were greater?

9 Nanotechnology will not be all plain-sailing, but its benefits will far
outweigh its drawbacks. You can be confident about that.

Knowledge of some of the conventions writers use to order the logic of

their writing can help you to predict the order of arguments or
information given in a passage, even an unfamiliar one. Try the following
activity to see if you can logically organize an unfamiliar piece of writing
about Americans’ use of behaviour-changing anti-depressant drugs such
as Prozac.
 Module 3 19

Activity 3.8
The paragraphs in the boxes below have been jumbled and are not in the
correct sequence. Look at the paragraphs and then try to put them into the
correct order.

The topic sentences of each paragraph provide some clues for ordering
the paragraphs, but focus also on reference words such as ‘these’ and ‘it’
and the cohesive links they create.

Think about what these words refer to. Remember also that general points
usually come before specific details or examples, and more serious
problems often come after less serious ones. This exercise is intended to
help you focus on the structure of the passage and on how the writer uses
some of the conventions described above to order the passage logically.

As you sequence the paragraphs, try to remember the reasons for your
choices.

a Modern Western medicine is sometimes blamed for being more

interested in handling symptoms than investigating and dealing
with their causes. This certainly seems to be the case with these
drugs. A child is hyperactive and disruptive at school, so he is
given pills to make him conform. As the reason for the problem
has not been addressed, the treatment will probably have to
continue indefinitely. As time goes by, the drug will have less
effect and the dosage may be increased or recourse had to
another one. All this time, the possibility will remain that it
might have been the school and its attitudes that were at fault. No
one is complaining though as chemical peace reigns.

b With all these doubts about these drugs and their side-effects – as
well as the manic episodes mentioned, such as nausea,
sleeplessness and loss of appetite – why are they used so widely?

c There is no question that Lithium and Prozac have done a lot of

good for a lot of people, but some question the cost. They say
that these drugs work by limiting patients’ emotional range.
They question whether people should be going through life
sedated and feeling less than is normal. This might be good for
those suffering from extreme manias and disturbances, but
should so many of the population be using them?

d Are Americans becoming over-dependent on behaviour-

changing chemicals? That is a question that many people in the
States are asking. Sales of anti-depressant drugs are now worth
more than twelve billion dollars a year. Thirty million people
take them regularly and controls on many are minimal. You can
log on to an Internet pharmacy, answer a few questions from a
medical consultant and then be sent your prescription. Drugs like
Prozac, the best known of the family of SSRIs, or selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which increase the amount of
serotonin in the brain, are used to calm the young, cheer up the
20 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

middle aged and tranquillize the aged.

e What may be even more alarming, according to critics, is the

possibility that the outbursts of rage and anger might be directed
outwards. Courts have accepted that murders have been carried
out as a result of adverse reactions to anti-depressants and there
is some evidence linking them to the horrific school massacres
one rather too frequently reads of as having taken place in the
USA. It is amazing then to hear that some states are considering
having all their children psychologically screened, a procedure
that is bound to lead to many more being put on a course of
drugs. Schools are in most cases allowed to make this a
condition of attending school.

f Or does it? One difficulty with such lucrative drugs as these is

that there are powerful vested interests in favour of them and
reluctant to hear any criticism. Advertising from drug companies
was worth over three billion dollars in 2003 and continues to
increase. Unless an editor has overwhelming reason to think
there is a real problem, s/he is not going to do anything to
alienate such lavish advertisers. An example of this came a
couple of years ago. After reviewing the evidence, the British
government concluded that some of the SSRIs caused young
people to suffer restlessness and sudden outbursts of mania that
might lead to suicide. Their prescription to under-18s was
forbidden. The American press did not make a big issue of this,
and it took the American authorities quite some time to agree
that the drugs might cause an increased risk of suicide attempts,
even if not of actual suicides. A warning was accordingly put on
the drugs. To be fair, their advocates pointed out that the drugs
were only given to rather disturbed individuals and that overall
since the introduction of SSRIs, the suicide rate among the
young, related or unrelated to that event, had fallen.

Discourse markers
In Module 1, we saw how academic writing uses discourse markers to organize ideas and
demonstrate relationships between them. Discourse markers can signal examples, a
sequence, a cause and an effect, or a similarity or contrast. For example, words such as
‘however’, ‘on the other hand’ and ‘though’ may be used between two sentences to show
that one idea is in contrast to another. Notice how in the introduction to the book review
in Reading passage 2 the word ‘though’ is used to indicate a criticism:

This is an elegant, well-illustrated book, printed on glossy paper. The title, though, is
rather a misnomer as after the first chapter the author concentrates on the practice of
acupuncture and seeks to promote its use among readers.
 Module 3 21

Here are some other common discourse markers.

Function Discourse markers

Exemplifying ‘for example’, ‘for instance’, ‘such as’

Generalizing ‘on the whole’, ‘by and large’, ‘basically’, ‘in

general’

Joining or adding ‘and’, ‘also’, ‘additionally’, ‘furthermore’,

ideas ‘moreover’, ‘as well’

Noting similarity ‘similarly’, ‘in the same way’, ‘likewise’

Noting difference ‘however’, ‘in contrast’, ‘on the other hand’,

‘though’

Signalling cause and ‘therefore’, ‘so’, ‘as a consequence’,

effect ‘consequently’, ‘as a result’, ‘thus’

Sequencing stages or ‘first’, ‘secondly’, ‘fifthly’, ‘lastly’, ‘after

procedures this’, ‘then’

Summing up ‘in short’, ‘in conclusion’

Activity 3.9
Look now at paragraph 8 in Reading passage 3 (on nanotechnology).
Notice the discourse markers that are used in this paragraph to signal
ideas that are contradictory, and then complete the following table. An
example has been included for you.

Idea Discourse marker Opposing idea

signalling
contrast

We must monitor what However Our concerns are not

is happening as we use sufficient reason for
new nanotechnology stopping the
products development of
nanotechnology

It would be good to
debate the safety
concerns of
nanotechnology before
deciding whether to use
it or not

Coal burning had its

problems and concerns
22 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

The early industrial

world had its losses

To sum up what we have learned in this section, you can identify the
main points of a reading passage by:

• Orienting yourself to the passage: Look at it carefully. Identify what

sort of writing it is and think about what the text is trying to achieve
(e.g. giving instructions, giving an opinion, reporting research).

• Using clues like the title, sub-headings and graphics to get a clear
picture of the main topic. Start to generate expectations, and recall
what you know about the topic.

• Skimming quickly through the passage, paying special attention to the

title, the beginning, and the end.

• Focusing on the topic/first sentences of paragraphs.

• Thinking about the logic of the passage and considering how

relationships between ideas and paragraphs are ordered and
organized.

• Taking note of discourse markers to determine the relationship

between ideas.
 Module 3 23

Reading intensively
Having used a number of strategies to grasp the main points of a text, we
now look at how to read more intensively. Reading intensively also
involves a number of particular skills, which include:

• being able to scan (or locate specific information);

• using strategies for understanding the meanings of unfamiliar words;

• identifying synonyms and related words in a passage;

• gaining meaning from long and complex sentences; and

• being able to identify examples and supporting information.

Scanning
Scanning involves identifying specific information quickly. This
information might be numbers, measurements, a person’s name, a place,
or a technical word or phrase. Scanning is the technique you often use
when looking up a name in the telephone book or a word in the
dictionary. In most cases, you know what words you are looking for, and
so you can concentrate on finding particular information, rather than on
trying to get the general meaning of a paragraph. Generally, scanning is a
technique that is helpful when you are looking for the answer to a known
question. Here are some strategies for scanning efficiently:

1 Use your knowledge of a text’s organization to direct your search for

a word. For example, if you are scanning for a definition of a key
topic, it is likely that you will be looking in the earlier (rather than the
later) paragraphs of a passage.

2 If you have skimmed a passage, use your knowledge of its main ideas
to guide your scanning.

3 To scan a reading text, you should start at the top of the page and then
move your eyes quickly towards the bottom.

4 Look for capital letters when trying to locate a name or place.

5 Numbers are often in numeric – rather than alphabetic – form, and so

are usually easy to find.

6 If you are scanning for information to answer a test question, make

sure that you note exactly what the key word in the question is
(remember its spelling and don’t confuse it with other similar words).

7 Set yourself a time limit.

The following activity asks you to scan for specific information in part of
the nanotechnology text.
24 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Activity 3.10
Scan the excerpt below from Reading passage 3 for the information that
answers these questions:

1 What is nanotechnology? (Hint: In which part of the text are you

most likely to find a definition or an initial explanation of the main
topic?)

2 How wide is a strand of DNA? (Hint: Note that you are looking for a
number or measurement, which will be located close to the words
‘strand’ and ‘DNA’, or their synonyms.)

3 Who was the first scientist to pioneer nanotechnology? (Hint: You are
looking for a name with capital letters.)

4 When did nanotechnology first emerge as a science? (Hint: You are

looking for a date.)

Reading passage 3

The new kid on the block

Nanotechnology is the ‘new kid on the block’, and as is usual with new
ideas or developments, there is a lot of rumour going about, a lot of
gossip and innuendo, even some fear. Perhaps it would help if we calm
down for a minute and try to get some facts about nanotechnology
before we form an opinion on it.

First, what is nanotechnology? It is technology on the scale of the

nanometre, one billionth of a metre. That is the atomic level (average
atomic size is 0.1 to 0.2 nanometres) and the level of DNA (a strand is
about 2 nm wide). Why is it special? Apart from being extremely small
and being able to get to places we cannot usually go, things are simply
not the same at the nano-level. At this level, catalysts can, for example,
become far more active, and materials far stronger.

When did nanotechnology emerge? The great physicist Richard

Feynman imagined it in 1959. It didn’t start happening though for
another twenty or so years. Two early breakthroughs were the discovery
of fullerenes or buckyballs in 1985, and then of carbon nanotubes in
1991. The latter are especially exciting as they are very light and very
strong with a multitude of applications.
 Module 3 25

Strategies for understanding the meanings of

unfamiliar words
There are two main strategies for understanding the meaning of words
that you don’t know:

• using the context of the word to guess its meaning

• using your existing knowledge of word roots, prefixes and suffixes.

Using an unfamiliar word’s context

When you come across an unfamiliar word, you can understand its
meaning by looking at the words before and after it and the sentences
around it.

For example, consider the meaning of ‘carbon nanotubes’ in the

following paragraph:

When did nanotechnology emerge? The great physicist Richard

Feynman imagined it in 1959. It didn’t start happening though for
another twenty or so years. Two early breakthroughs were the
discovery of fullerenes or buckyballs in 1985, and then of carbon
nanotubes in 1991. The latter are especially exciting as they are very
light and very strong with a multitude of applications.

‘Fullerenes’ and ‘buckyballs’ are also unfamiliar technical words and

they don’t help us much, but the next sentence gives us some clues and
tells us that ‘carbon nanotubes’ have particular qualities and uses.

Next let’s practise our skills to work out the meaning of some less
common words in a longer passage.

Activity 3.11
Refer to Reading passage 4 ‘America and drugs’ below. Scan for the
following words, then find clues to understand what each word means by
looking at the context of each word:

By paragraph:

1 minimal
2 sedated
3 hyperactive, conform, dosage
4 alienate, lavish, advocates
6 nausea

Reading passage 4
26 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

America and drugs

1 Are Americans becoming over-dependent on behaviour-changing
chemicals? That is a question that many people in the States are
asking. Sales of anti-depressant drugs are now worth more than
twelve billion dollars a year. Thirty million people take them
regularly and controls on many are minimal. You can log on to an
Internet pharmacy, answer a few questions from a medical
consultant and then be sent your prescription. Drugs like Prozac, the
best known of the family of SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors, which increase the amount of serotonin in the brain, are
used to calm the young, cheer up the middle aged and tranquillize
the aged.

2 There is no question that Lithium and Prozac have done a lot of

good for a lot of people, but some question the cost. They say that
these drugs work by limiting patients’ emotional range. They
question whether people should be going through life sedated and
feeling less than is normal. This might be good for those suffering
from extreme manias and disturbances, but should so many of the
population be using them?

3 Modern Western medicine is sometimes blamed for being more

interested in handling symptoms than investigating and dealing with
their causes. This certainly seems to be the case with these drugs. A
child is hyperactive and disruptive at school so he is given pills to
make him conform. As the reason for the problem has not been
addressed, the treatment will probably have to continue indefinitely.
As time goes by, the drug will have less effect and the dosage may
be increased or recourse had to another one. All this time, the
possibility will remain that it might have been the school and its
attitudes that were at fault. No one is complaining though as
chemical peace reigns.

4 Or does it? One difficulty with such lucrative drugs as these is that
there are powerful vested interests in favour of them and reluctance
to hear any criticism. Advertising from drug companies was worth
over three billion dollars in 2003 and continues to increase. Unless
an editor has overwhelming reason to think there is a real problem,
s/he is not going to do anything to alienate such lavish advertisers.
An example of this came a couple of years ago. After reviewing the
evidence, the British government concluded that some of the SSRIs
caused young people to suffer restlessness and sudden outbursts of
mania that might lead to suicide. Their prescription to under-18s
was forbidden. The American press did not make a big issue of this,
and it took the American authorities quite some time to agree that
the drugs might cause an increased risk of suicide attempts, even if
not of actual suicides. A warning was accordingly put on the drugs.
To be fair, their advocates pointed out that the drugs were only
given to rather disturbed individuals and that overall since the
introduction of SSRIs, the suicide rate among the young, related or
unrelated to that event, had fallen.

5 What may be even more alarming, according to critics, is the

possibility that the outbursts of rage and anger might be directed
outwards. Courts have accepted that murders have been carried out
as a result of adverse reactions to anti-depressants and there is some
evidence linking them to the horrific school massacres one rather
 Module 3 27

too frequently reads of as having taken place in the USA. It is

amazing then to hear that some states are considering having all
their children psychologically screened, a procedure that is bound to
lead to many more being put on a course of drugs. Schools are in
most cases allowed to make this a condition of attending school.

6 With all these doubts about these drugs and their side-effects – as
well as the manic episodes mentioned are nausea, sleeplessness and
loss of appetite – why are the drugs used so widely?

Using word form knowledge to guess the meaning of

words
This means looking for possible similarities between known and
unfamiliar words. It also involves using knowledge of a word’s Latin,
French or Greek roots and of its prefix (first syllable) or suffix (last
syllable). For example, in the book review in Reading passage 2, the
writer refers to the title of the book as being a ‘misnomer’. What does the
writer mean by this word? You can probably guess its meaning by
breaking it up into its parts:

mis + nom + er

The root (or main part of the word) is ‘nom’. Can you think of other
words that use this root? (We thought of ‘nominal’ and ‘nomination’.)
This root comes from Latin and means ‘name’.

The prefix mis- comes from French and is used in many English words
(e.g. ‘mistake’, ‘mispronounce’, ‘misconception’). Based on your
knowledge of the root and the prefix of the word ‘misnomer’, do you
think a title which is a ‘misnomer’ is appropriate or inaccurate?

Having some knowledge of the meaning of common roots, prefixes and

suffixes can help you to guess the meaning of many unfamiliar and
technical words. Here is a list of some of the more common and
productive prefixes and suffixes.

Prefixes Meanings Examples

a- negative ‘atypical’
ante- before ‘antenatal’
anti- against ‘antibiotic’
astro- star ‘astronomy’
auto- self ‘automobile’ (self-
moving)’
bi- two ‘bicycle’
bio- life ‘biotechnology’
28 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

chron- time ‘chronicle’

co-/com- together ‘collaborate’ (labour
together)
contra- against ‘contradict’ (speak against)
de- away from ‘depart’
di- two ‘divide’
dis- negative ‘disappear’
eco- home ‘ecology’ (study of
habitats)
ex- out of ‘exit’
graph- writing, marking ‘geography’ (study of the
Earth)
gyn- woman ‘gynaecology’ (study of
women, medical)
hemi- half ‘hemisphere’
hetero- other ‘heterosexual’
homo- same ‘homogeneous’ (same
type)
hydro- water ‘hydroelectric’
hyper- above ‘hyperactive’
hypo- below ‘hypodermic’ (below the
skin)
im-/in- negative ‘impossible’
kine-/cine- movement ‘cinema’
lum- light ‘luminous’
meg- great ‘megabyte’
metre- measure ‘metric’
micro- small ‘microwave’
mis- incorrect ‘mispronounce’
mono- one ‘monotonous’
nano- tiny ‘nanotechnology’
paed-/ped- child ‘paediatric’ (child
medicine)
ped- foot ‘pedal’
pan- all ‘panacea’ (cure all)
photo- light ‘photography’
poly- many ‘polygamy’ (many wives)
 Module 3 29

post- after ‘post-modern’

pre- before ‘pre-historic’
psycho- mind ‘psychology’
retro- backwards ‘retrograde’
super- above/beyond ‘supermarket’
sym-/syn- together ‘synergy’ (working
together)
tele- far ‘television’ (see afar)
thera- healing ‘physiotherapy’ (body
healing)
therm- heat ‘thermal’
trans- across ‘transport’ (carry across)
tox- poison ‘toxic’
uni- one ‘uniform’ (one type)
xeno- foreign ‘xenophobia’ (dislike of
foreigners)

Suffixes Meanings Examples

-cide death/killing ‘suicide’ (self-killing)
-crat/-cracy/-archy ruling ‘democracy’ (rule by the
people)
-escent becoming ‘adolescent’ (becoming
adult)
-itis disease ‘bronchitis’ (disease of
breathing tubes)
-logy study ‘biology’
-mania madness/obsession ‘manic-depression’
-oid shaped like ‘spheroid’
-path feeling ‘sympathy’ (feeling with)
-phil love ‘sinophile’ (lover of
Chinese things)
-phobia fear ‘claustrophobia’ (fear of
small spaces)
-phone sound ‘phonetics’
-proof able to withstand ‘waterproof’ (keeps out
water)

Activity 3.12
30 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Try to work out the meaning of these words from their roots, prefixes and
suffixes:

1 anarchy

2 autobiography

3 luminescent

4 foolproof

5 psychotherapy

6 deformation

7 megalomania

8 chronometer

9 misogynist

10 monologue

11 antipathy

12 disqualification

13 hydrological

14 psychokinetic

15 hypothermia

Identifying possible synonyms for key words

and phrases
If you are reading a passage to answer a comprehension question or to
check a fact, you usually need to read intensively to find specific
information. Sometimes this process simply involves scanning for a
specific word. Sometimes, however, it also involves scanning a passage
for a synonym of a key word or phrase.

For example, imagine that you were reading the following paragraph
from the ‘America and drugs’ text in order to answer the following
comprehension question:

TRUE or FALSE: ‘Anti-depressants are being used in America to

make young people better behaved and to make people in their 40s
and 50s feel happier.’

America and drugs

 Module 3 31

Are Americans becoming over-dependent on behaviour-changing

chemicals? That is a question that many people in the States are asking.
Sales of anti-depressant drugs are now worth more than twelve billion
dollars a year. Thirty million people take them regularly and controls on
many are minimal. You can log on to an Internet pharmacy, answer a
few questions from a medical consultant and then be sent your
prescription. Drugs like Prozac, the best known of the family of SSRIs,
or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which increase the amount of
serotonin in the brain, are used to calm the young, cheer up the middle
aged, and tranquillize the aged.

In the above paragraph, most of the key words in the true-or-false

question weren’t used. If you were scanning the paragraph for phrases
such as ‘better behaved’, ‘people in their 40s and 50s’ or ‘feel happier’,
you would not find them. However, you can find synonyms for these
phrases (e.g. ‘the middle aged’ has the same meaning as ‘people in their
40s and 50s’ and ‘cheer up’ has the same meaning as ‘feel happier’).

Therefore, when you are searching for specific information in a reading

text, you need to look for indirect references, as well as literal or direct
references, to key words and phrases. To practise this skill, try the
following activity.

Activity 3.13
The paragraph below discusses computer viruses. Find words and phrases
in the paragraph that mean the same as the ten synonyms in the left
column below. The answers should be in the same order as they appear in
the text.

Synonym Word in passage

1 joined

2 continuous

3 unpleasant

4 difference

5 forms

6 frequently used

7 careful

8 harmful

9 software that harms

1 odd
0
32 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Computer viruses
Any computer connected to the Internet is under constant attack. This is
a grim fact of cyberlife. Viruses and worms (the distinction is almost
lost now) arrive in various guises and can cause serious damage.
Messages about email that cannot be delivered and prizes we have won
are common ways to get themselves on a computer. The wary know
never to open them and to delete at once. Trojan horses are an ever-
present danger allowing your machine to be remotely controlled from
afar. Spyware is as nasty as it sounds along with its slightly less noxious
cousin adware. Downloading free software is a risky business nowadays
as often some malware gets in at the same time. These programmes slow
down your computer, make your web browser behave in peculiar ways
and generally degrade the performance of your machine.

Academic reading often involves being able to cope with long and
complex sentences. We now discuss some strategies that can help you
unpack or simplify complex sentences.

Unpacking complex sentences

As you saw in Module 1, conjunctions such as ‘while’, ‘and’, ‘but’, etc.
are used to subordinate (or join) two or more short sentences into a
longer, complex sentence. Complex sentences that use coordination or
subordination are a key element of academic writing, and allow the writer
to express more sophisticated or complicated ideas by linking clauses. In
most complex sentences, one clause usually carries more meaning or
importance than the other parts of the sentence. For example, in the
following sentence, the second half carries the stronger meaning:

Although there has been a great deal of research, a vaccine has not
yet been found.

Being able to ‘unpack’ complex sentences and identify their main clauses
is a key skill in reading intensively, as it helps you to determine the main
ideas and establish a writer’s main arguments.

Recognizing concession
In academic arguments, writers often acknowledge (or ‘concede’) that
there is more than one point of view. To signal differences in opinion,
writers often express two points of view by combining two contrasting
clauses in one complex sentence. They also often signal to the reader that
one point of view has more importance than the other by placing the less
important view first in the sentence – often preceded by a preposition that
indicates some concession to a different or opposing argument.
 Module 3 33

Preposition Contrasting opinion Main opinion or

signalling argument
concession

While many people may be we should not be

frightened of the possible reluctant to embrace its
dangers of many potential uses.
nanotechnology,

Although coal-burning has its few people would want

downside, to return to pre-industrial
life.

Despite the anti-depressants have a they are widely used by

fact that number of side-effects people of all ages in
and potentially carry America.
health risks,

As well as indicating a concession to another opinion, complex sentences

can also include a concession to a contrasting fact. For instance, in the
following example, the first clause gives some facts but then emphasizes
contradictory information. The second (italicized) conveys the main point
in the complex sentence:

Although tests have not been completed, permission has been given
for the wider use of the new drugs.

Activity 3.14
Examine the following complex sentences and, in your own words,
paraphrase the main opinion or argument.

1 Regardless of the fact that severe piracy laws have been enforced,
pirated CDs and DVDs are widely available in shops and markets.

2 Although it is certainly not impossible, the theory may not strike one
as especially plausible.

3 Despite many people’s desire to believe that life exists on other

planets, there are no clear scientific signs that extra-terrestrial life
exists.
34 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Identifying examples
In addition to recognizing a writer’s concession to an opposing fact or
argument, it is also important to be able to recognize how writers use
examples to support their opinions.

Discourse markers that are used to identify an example include:

For example,
For instance,
This is indicated by …
This is shown by …

The order of sentences in a paragraph also helps us to distinguish

examples from the main opinion. Generally, writers give their main point
or argument first, and then follow this with examples to support the
argument. For instance, look again at the following paragraph from the
‘America and drugs’ passage:

Modern Western medicine is sometimes blamed for being more

interested in handling symptoms than investigating and dealing with
their causes. This certainly seems to be the case with these drugs. A
child is hyperactive and disruptive at school so he is given pills to
make him conform. As the reason for the problem has not been
addressed, the treatment will probably have to continue indefinitely.
As time goes by, the drug will have less effect and the dosage may be
increased or recourse had to another one. All this time, the possibility
will remain that it might have been the school and its attitudes that
were at fault. No one is complaining though as chemical peace reigns.

Activity 3.15
In the paragraph below (which also discusses the use of anti-depressants
in America):

• underline the main argument;

• highlight any discourse markers that signal to the reader that an

example is being given; and

• list specific examples that support the writer’s main argument.

What may be even more alarming, according to critics, is the

possibility that people taking anti-depressants might direct
outbursts of rage and anger outwards towards others. This claim
has been given some credence by the fact that courts have
accepted that murders have been carried out as a result of adverse
reactions to anti-depressants. There is also evidence linking anti-
depressants to horrific high-school massacres that have taken
place in the USA.
 Module 3 35

To sum up what we have learned in this section, you can read intensively
and locate specific information in the following ways:

• Scan for specific information. Use your knowledge of a text’s

organization to direct your search for a word; start at the top of the
page and then move your eyes quickly towards the bottom; and look
for clues that signal names, dates, places or technical words.

• Work out the meaning of an unfamiliar word or phrase from its

context. Look at the words and sentences around the unfamiliar word.

• Use knowledge of word forms, word roots, prefixes and suffixes to

understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

• Identify possible synonyms for key words and phrases.

• Unpack complex sentences to identify their key ideas. Look for words
or phrases that signal concessions or conflicting facts and arguments.

• Identify examples and distinguish supporting information from main

points. Look for discourse markers that signal examples and use your
knowledge of a paragraph’s logical structure to locate the main idea
and its supporting examples or evidence.
36 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Identifying an author’s opinions,

attitudes and bias
Having used a number of ways to read intensively and locate specific
information, we now consider skills and strategies which help us to read
critically and analytically, to determine a writer’s opinion, attitude and
bias. We look first at how to determine a writer’s attitude and assess
whether it is positive or negative, subjective or neutral, certain or
tentative. We also look at strategies for identifying the intended audience
of a piece of writing.

Identifying a writer’s attitude

You can establish the attitude of a writer (and of people mentioned in a
text) by looking at the vocabulary that is used to describe the key
incidents, ideas or beliefs.

Signals of positive and negative attitudes

Emotive verbs, adjectives and adverbs often signal a writer’s attitude to
the topic. These may be negative (‘awful’, ‘regrettable’, ‘nasty’) or
positive (‘magnificent’, ‘splendid’).

For example, look at how the negative and emotive underlined words in
the passage below connote the author’s belief that viruses are dangerous
and a serious problem.

Computer viruses
Any computer connected to the Internet is under constant attack. This is
a grim fact of cyberlife. Viruses and worms (the distinction is almost
lost now) arrive in various guises and can cause serious damage.
Messages about email that cannot be delivered and prizes we have won
are common ways to get themselves on a computer. The wary know
never to open them and to delete at once. Trojan horses are an ever-
present danger allowing your machine to be remotely controlled from
afar. Spyware is as nasty as it sounds along with its slightly less noxious
cousin adware. Downloading free software is a risky business nowadays
as often some malware gets in at the same time. These programmes slow
down your computer, make your web browser behave in peculiar ways
and generally degrade the performance of your machine.

Sometimes, however, a writer takes neither a strongly negative nor

strongly positive attitude. In these cases, the writer’s opinion can be
called ‘neutral’. Compare the strongly negative tone in the paragraph
above with the neutral tone in the following paragraph.
 Module 3 37

Computer viruses
Any computer connected to the Internet may be affected by a virus.
Viruses and worms come in different forms and can alter a computer’s
operation. Trojan horses are viruses that allow a computer to be
remotely controlled. Spyware and adware are other kinds of viruses.
These programmes can reduce the operating speed of your computer,
and make the web browser behave in unusual ways.

As well as expressing a positive, negative or neutral attitude, writers can

express varying degrees of certainty about their topic or opinions.

Assessing a writer’s level of certainty

A writer’s attitude may be certain or uncertain.

Adverbs and prepositional phrases that signal certainty include:

Undoubtedly, …
Clearly, …
Without question, …

Noun phrases that use strong adjectives such as ‘a definite problem’,

‘clear facts’, or ‘undeniable and indisputable evidence’ signal a high
degree of certainty.

In contrast, auxiliary modal verbs such ‘seem’, ‘may’, ‘appear’, ‘might’,

and adverbs such as ‘perhaps’ soften an argument and make the writer
seem less certain. Also, verbs such as ‘suggest’ and ‘indicate’ can also
make a statement more tentative and less certain.

Activity 3.16
The paragraph below discusses whether life exists on other planets. What
is the author’s attitude to this issue? Underline any words that help you to
determine the writer’s attitude to the question of life on other planets.
How certain is the author of his/her opinions?

Astrobiology
In the history of humankind’s thinking about itself, one thing is very
clear. We began by assuming we were unique and we have gradually
realised this is an illusion. Earth is not the centre of the Solar System.
We are not unrelated to other animals. We are not the only animals that
use tools and have ways of communicating. Our Sun is not an especially
impressive star. There are inconceivably many more galaxies than ours.
Many stars have planets. It is highly likely that our belief that life is
unique to Earth is also going to be proved wrong. The signs are already
there.
38 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Activity 3.17
Now read the passage that the above paragraph was taken from (Reading
passage 5 below) and note the degree of certainty in the other paragraphs.
Mark the following statements as ‘very sure’ or ‘not completely sure’
according to the passage. Remember to look for words that express doubt
– for example, ‘maybe’, ‘possibly’, ‘could’, ‘might’ and ‘seem’ – or
certainty, such as ‘definitely’, ‘it is clear that’, ‘obviously’ and ‘fact’.

Statement Very Not

sure completely
sure

1 Mars is cold and dead.

2 Some bacteria can survive in deep ice.

3 Large colonies of bacteria live far beneath

Earth’s surface.

4 Red giants produce organic molecules.

5 Difficult conditions help the formation of

life.

6 Evolution would lead alien life towards

intelligence.

7 We have not detected any external

intelligent radio activity.

8 Intelligence is not stable.

Reading passage 5

Astrobiology

1 In the history of humankind’s thinking about itself, one thing is very

clear. We began by assuming we were unique and we have
gradually realised this is an illusion. Earth is not the centre of the
Solar System. We are not unrelated to other animals. We are not the
only animals that use tools and have ways of communicating. Our
Sun is not an especially impressive star. There are inconceivably
many more galaxies than ours. Many stars have planets. It is highly
likely that our belief that life is unique to Earth is also going to be
proved wrong. The signs are already there.

2 A few years ago one of the principal arguments supporting the idea
that life might be an extremely rare phenomenon was its fragility.
The list of requisites was deemed to rule out most places: liquid
water, a narrow temperature range, protection from harmful rays
and even ultra-violet light that breaks up organic molecules, and
freedom from bombardment from space debris. Finding such a place
was likely to be very difficult. A view of our own neighbours
underlined the problem. Mercury suffers terrible extremes of heat
 Module 3 39

and cold and any liquid must have long been boiled off by the Sun.
Venus is a hydrocarbon furnace. Mars appears to be cold and dead.
The planets beyond that are gas giants with incredible pressures and
temperatures close to absolute zero.

3 Gradually, however, we have become aware that there are many

types of bacteria that thrive in places we thought automatically
dead. We have found bacteria that have been locked away for
millenia in deep polar ice but have still been able to revive. We have
found entire ecosystems around thermal vents in the deepest oceans.
We have found bacteria in the planetary rock at depths we never
imagined possible and even now wonder if there are large colonies
living kilometres below the surface. Such endoliths could be active
in any of the rocky planets or moons of the solar system. A deep,
hot biosphere could even be present on our Moon.

4 Now that they can look at Mars in more detail many astrobiologists
expect us sooner or later to find life on the planet. We have
discovered there is water on or just below the surface and that once
there was lot of surface water there. Ages ago, Mars was warm and
wet. Life may well have appeared and hung on in hidden niches
below the surface. Subterranean bacteria could explain the rather
puzzling presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere. Some
even believe a meteorite from Mars found in 1996 already contains
evidence of bacterial activity on the red planet. Certainly the
presence of magnetite crystals is puzzling.

5 According to some scientists, Earth was seeded with life from outer
space. It could have been a rock from Mars or a comet. On the
whole, objects falling from the sky are more likely to have on
occasions stopped life in its tracks or driven organisms to extinction,
and the conditions they undergo when falling through the
atmosphere are likely to tax even the most extreme bacteria, but it is
true that red giants produce organic molecules and that amino acids
have been found on meteorites. The theory may not strike one as
especially plausible, but it is certainly not impossible.

6 It may be that what we think of as relatively inhospitable conditions

may actually be conducive to the formation of life. Three billion
years ago the Earth was far cooler and the top 300 metres of the
ocean may have been frozen solid. Down below, possibly near the
thermal vents mentioned earlier, organic molecules could have
developed safe from any disturbance by ultraviolet light. Similarly,
life might have developed in the heat and chemicals suspected to
exist beneath the icy surfaces of the gas giant’s moons.

7 If life can develop and flourish in environments that we once

thought to be hostile, if organic compounds are scattered around the
cosmos and if bacteria can travel across space, the chances of life
having developed in other places than our home planet seem greatly
enhanced and, considering the number of planetary systems there
are likely to be, it seems next to certain that biological activity is
going on in numerous places.

8 Some people, however, are disappointed when they realize that

astrobiology is talking in the main of extremely simple bacterial
levels of life. They want to know if intelligent life exists.
40 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Fascinating (and, of course, dangerous) as it would be to encounter

alien bacteria, communicating with another species would be a
thousand times more stimulating. If life has the potential to develop
that has been suggested above, it is reasonable to assume that
evolution would guide it to more complex forms and some of those
would be intelligent. Despite all our efforts, however, to detect radio
activity from an intelligent species, we have found nothing. Maybe
we have not been looking long, hard or far enough or maybe the
reason is a more sinister one. Could it be that our sort of intelligence
is not stable? We almost destroyed ourselves with nuclear weapons
in the twentieth century, and there are signs that we are now
destroying our own ecosystem. Possibly life forms such as whales
or ants have the potential to last much longer. Maybe the sort of
species that pours out radio signals simply doesn’t last long or all
sign of it is dissipated into space. Let’s hope it is not true, but if we
do find life elsewhere than Earth, we need to start worrying why
there are no signs of our counterparts.

Determining the intended audience of a text

Module 1 showed that academic writing uses nominalization, formal
vocabulary and depersonalized actions to create an academic register or
style. Although there are general conventions for writing in an academic
style or register, it’s also important to remember that such writing can
vary according to its intended audience. For instance, if a writer is
writing for a specialist audience (say in an academic journal or a highly
specialist textbook), he/she is likely to assume that the audience already
knows quite a bit about the topic and will probably use a lot of technical
or specialist vocabulary. If, on the other hand, the writer is writing for a
general or non-expert audience, he/she will use less specialist vocabulary,
will define or explain uncommon words, and will not assume too much
knowledge of the topic.

Other factors – such as the audience’s age, sex, race, education level,
profession and so on – also influence the use of academic language. For
example, a textbook for Secondary 3 students will obviously be written
(and illustrated) in a very different way from a report written for PhD
candidates or senior professionals.
 Module 3 41

Activity 3.18
Look again at Reading passage 5. Who do you think is the intended
audience for this passage? How do you know?

1 Do you think the writer has written this passage for a specialist or a
general audience?

2 How much knowledge of the topic does the writer assume?

3 To what extent does the writer define or explain uncommon or

technical words?

As a way of summing up what you have learned in this section, please

now turn to Reading passage 6, which is concerned with the debate on the
genetic engineering (GE) of food and crops. As you read, consider the
following:

• What is the author’s attitude to GE? Is the writer in favour of GE,

against GE, or neutral on the topic? Remember to look for strong
adjectives that signal a positive or a negative view.

• How certain or tentative is the writer in his/her opinion? Remember

to look for adverbs and modals that soften opinions such as ‘perhaps’,
‘may’, ‘might’, and for verbs that signal a tentative opinion such as
‘suggest’ and ‘indicate’.

• What audience do you think this passage was written for? How do
you know? Remember to think about the level of assumed
knowledge, the extent to which specialist language is used, and the
degree to which the writer explains or defines uncommon or technical
words.

Reading passage 6

To engineer or not to engineer

One of the most controversial of modern technological breakthroughs has been that of genetic engineering,
especially the ability to splice the genes of one organism into those of another so producing a new, ‘improved’
variety all the more capable of meeting human needs. Humans had long modified crops and animals by means
of selective breeding, but now far faster and more dramatic alterations to organisms have become possible. This
has ignited a fierce debate.

II

The first thing any supporter of the genetic modification of crops will do is list some of the products of this
engineering. We have rice that yields more, produces Vitamin A, can grow in a salty environment, can
withstand stress and resist the ill-effects of chemicals sprayed to kill weeds, insect pests and harmful bacteria.
We have potatoes with more protein, which bruise less and can withstand insect and viral attack. We have
soybeans that are less allergenic, contain more oil, can withstand the cold, grow in soil with metallic content
and survive spraying for weeds and insects. There are
42 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

tomatoes which resist viral and fungal attacks, have a longer shelf-life and contain more anti-oxidants
(thought to reduce the risks of cancer). New peppers have more flavour and resistance to viruses, and there
are strawberries that can be grown in colder places, fight fungal infection and last longer (an important
factor in getting soft fruit to market). These modifications and others are helpful to farmers, businesses and
consumers (see Table 1).

Table 1

Benefit to farmers Benefit to business Benefit to

consumers

• Plants that can be sprayed with pesticide without Produce with: Produce with
ill-effect • altered oil content increased:
• Plants naturally resistant to: insects, bacteria, • increased shelf-life • flavour
viruses, fungal infection • vitamins
• less bruising
• Plants that can withstand: cold, stress, salty • anti-oxidants
conditions, metals, drought
• protein.
• Plants with improved nitrogen fixation
• Plants with increased yields Produce less likely
to trigger allergies

There have also been modifications to farm animals with, for example, cows that produce milk ideal for
cheese, pigs with less fat in their meat, and faster growing salmon.

In the face of all these benefits, the pro-GM camp cannot understand why anyone should not be delighted.
They take the general view that new advances are, like accused people, deserving of the benefit of the doubt
and should be regarded as innocent until proved guilty. Until and unless there is a problem, which they are
confident we would soon be able to fix, they see no reason for hesitation. The Industrial and Digital
Revolutions can now be joined by the Biotech Revolution and bring profits to all. In any case, they point
out, GM foodstuffs and crops are widely used in the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, India and
China, all major agricultural producers. There have been no problems of a significant nature.

Many writers defending GM crops claim that the technology is the key to reducing world hunger and
malnutrition (these are not quite the same: many people have food in sufficient quantity but do not have a
healthy balanced diet). Plants can be designed that will flourish in poor soil, survive in harsh conditions and
supply the right nutrients to people. To miss this opportunity would be an unconscionable shame.

III
Genetically modified crops have not, however, been welcomed by all. In 1999 Europeans suddenly became
aware of what was happening and reacted, in many cases, with great hostility. Probably as a result of a
number of scares attached to modern farming methods (notably the BSE disaster in the United Kingdom),
Europeans showed no willingness to trust the assurances of experts that all this engineering activity was
safe, especially when there were some who were saying the exact opposite. It became politically impossible
for governments not to act and a number of restrictions were placed on the use of GM plants. Products
containing GM ingredients have to be clearly labelled and are practically impossible to sell in the European
market. The Japanese consumer has also proved to be reluctant to try the new crops. This has had a strong
knock-on effect on farmers who hope to export to these markets. They know that GM foodstuffs are
unacceptable to consumers and hence avoid them. American farming interests suspect that the European
aversion to GM crops is part of a protectionist plot. Certainly the EU is guilty of protecting its farmers, but
the strength of feeling on the part of the public was genuine whether or not it was justified. What caused it is
our next question.
 Module 3 43

There are a number of points made in opposition to genetic engineering of the sort being discussed.
First, it is seen as ‘unnatural’. The food produced as a result was named ‘Frankenfood’ with all its
associations of horror. The argument is a little vague, but reflects a public fear that scientists have
got too used to playing God and are venturing on forbidden and very dangerous ground without
even taking any precautions. The mind-set of these concerned people is very unlike that of the pro-
GM thinkers; they are very nervous of the genie being let out of the bottle. Until it has been proved
that genetically altering organisms is harmless they want no part of it.

A stronger argument than the fear that GM foodstuffs might turn out to be toxic, is the fear of
genetic pollution. The manufacturers of GM crops assured people that new genes would not
spread, but research has shown that seeds travel further than expected and accidental and
unforeseen mixing is quite probable. This raises the question of the emergence of ‘superweeds’
which cannot be killed by spraying. In the case of specialized plants that produce, for example,
pharmaceutical drugs, one would not want their qualities spreading to ordinary edible plants. It is
also reasonable to point out that one cannot really beat nature for long. If plants show resistance to
various viruses and insects, natural selection will swiftly produce new ones capable of overcoming
their defences.

Another line of argument involves the companies themselves. People are not happy with the idea
of plants and genes being patented. They fear that rather than helping the poor the new crops will
earn huge profits for the biotechnology corporations. Farmers will be dependent on them and the
companies will gain a form of monopoly. At first, this seemed to have been confirmed by the use
of ‘terminator’ tactics that ensured the seed produced each year would be infertile. Ironically, this
would help to solve the contamination problem that also concerned critics, but it still enraged them.
It certainly needs to be conceded that some of the possible benefits to the developing world
trumpeted by GM companies are unlikely to emerge from profit-driven companies whose interest
in the poor is always minimal for obvious commercial reasons.

IV

It seems unlikely that any consensus on this vexed topic will appear soon. The argument goes
beyond facts to basic attitudes and philosophies.

Activity 3.19
Answer the following questions about Reading passage 6:

1 How would you describe the author’s attitude to the topic of GE?
Does he/she take a particular position or side in the debate?

2 Explain the subordinate clauses in the sentence beginning ‘Probably

as …’ in section III, paragraph 1.

3 In your own words, explain the suspicion of the American farming

interests (section III, paragraph 1).

4 Explain the qualifications and concessions in the sentence beginning

‘Certainly the …’ (section III, paragraph 1). What is their overall
effect?

5 In what way does ‘Frankenfood’ sound horrible (section III,

paragraph 2)?

6 What does the writer mean by saying ‘people are very nervous of the
genie being let out of the bottle’ (section III, paragraph 2)?
44 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

7 Why would one not want the qualities mentioned in the passage
spreading in the way described (section III, paragraph 3)?

8 How will natural selection produce the effect described in section III,
paragraph 3?

9 Explain the ‘irony’ referred to in section III, paragraph 4.

10 Explain the last point in section III, paragraph 4.

 Module 3 45

Putting it all together

To conclude this module on academic reading, we would like you to
practise many of the skills you have learned by applying them to Reading
passage 7 below on the topic of plastic surgery.

First, practise orienting yourself to the text. Then try to quickly skim the
text, noting the main arguments in the introduction and conclusion and
the key ideas in topic sentences. Pay attention to discourse markers and
the structure and logic of the passage. Then read the passage more
carefully and try to guess the meaning of unfamiliar words. Also, look for
any positive or negative words that suggest the author’s attitude, and
think also about the intended audience of the passage.

After reading the passage, complete the activities that follow.

Reading passage 7

Plastic beauty
1 In the developed world, plastic, or cosmetic surgery as it is
increasingly known, is booming. More and more clinics are being
opened, advertisements seem to be everywhere and more and more
of one’s friends are disappearing for a short time and then
reemerging looking different. It isn’t even only the old who are
turning to the knife to improve their looks; more and more
adolescents are having adjustments made to their appearance.

2 Among the most common operations are work on the breasts (often
enhancement but also reduction for women) and on the eyes (in
Asia to make the eyes more Western-looking and among the older
to remove bags and wrinkling). Liposuction removes fat from the
thighs or any other places with unsightly bulges; face-lifts smooth
out the effects of aging; rhinoplasty improves the shape of the nose
(males are particularly drawn to this operation; and otoplasty (often
resorted to by teenagers) sorts out large or prominent ears.

3 In some cases the surgery is carried out for medical reasons. Large
breasts can, for example, cause back problems, but in most cases the
motive is beauty. People want to look more attractive, and who can
gainsay them? Research has time and time again shown that
physically attractive people get better jobs, earn more, are more
likely to be helped and generally have a better time. Even very
young babies will look more frequently at people who are regarded
as good-looking than at others. Making your features more regular
makes sense.

4 We live in a world of social levelling. Just as the old aristocracy of

birth has been replaced by the common man and the concept of
merit, the aristocracy of beauty can now be overthrown by the
wonders of technology. Cosmetic surgery can be seen as a
democratization of good looks, making them more generally
available. Although cosmetic surgeons command good fees, lesser
procedures are now well within the reach of most members of the
world’s richer societies.
46 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

5 Objections do, however, exist to the popularity of appearance

changing surgical procedures. The first is that having any operation
entails risk. This is true. Mistakes, infections, failures happen, but
they are not especially common and the answer to them must be
regulation of the industry. If the surgeons are well-qualified,
licensed and regulated to ensure no corners are cut and that full
hygiene is observed, the dangers should be minimal. Travelling by
road involves some risk and yet we continue to get into a car.

6 Too much cosmetic surgery can cause the appearance to degenerate.

The so-called Michael Jackson Syndrome is well-known. This also
is not a particularly good argument against cosmetic surgery.
Extreme cases should not be used to judge more ordinary ones.
Presumably in such cases the patients were advised of the risks they
were taking and accepted them. As long as there are courts where
surgeons can be sued we can assume they will not act rashly.

7 Arguments from nature rarely work. The term is too vague. There is
nothing new to humans altering their appearance with various types
of piercing and tattooing. Societies in which implants are put into
lips, necks are elongated, feet are made artificially small and wigs
are worn are easy to think of. If such behaviour is so old and so
wide-spread, how can we say it is unnatural to the human species?
All that has happened is that it can now be done far more effectively
and safely.

8 Some say that cosmetic surgery is a waste of human resources.

Medicine should be about saving lives, not straightening out noses.
Fat people should lose weight rather than undergoing liposuction.
Even if cosmetic surgery is acceptable, it should be low on our list
of priorities. There are far more important things that need setting
right in our world than people’s eyelids. We should value inner
beauty and perfection of personality rather than superficial
appearance. All these are sound moral arguments, but they are far
too general and wide: there are many things we take for granted that
would have to be condemned on the same basis. An individual
considering cosmetic surgery may wish to ponder these matters but
they are not a reason to ban or restrict it.

9 There is some irony in the fact that just as women made such
breakthroughs in developed societies and rejected the image of sex
object or baby-bearing machine, cosmetic surgery came along and
made many women seek to enhance their sexual attractiveness to
men by means of its procedures. It is, then, understandable that
feminists are no fans of cosmetic surgery carried out for such
reasons, but, again, these are issues for individuals to think about.

10 Perhaps saddest is the thought that cosmetic surgery mimics many

of the most disheartening aspects of our society. The entertainment,
fashion and beauty industries (how odd to consider beauty an
industry) give us an image of the ideal human body that we then
desperately strive after. Cosmetic surgery comes as the answer to
our prayers, only to turn us all into mass-produced copies of one
another. Is this the beginning of the trail that leads to the clone?
 Module 3 47

11 A final question: what is the difference between a woman who has

undergone cosmetic surgery entering a beauty contest and an athlete
who has used artificial means to enhance his/her performance
joining the Olympic Games?

Activity 3.20
Answer these questions by scanning the text very quickly for specific
information.

1 ‘Liposuction’ means removing ___________________.

2 Plastic surgery on the nose is called ‘___________________’.

3 Large breasts may cause ___________________.

4 To minimize the risk of plastic surgery ___________________ is

needed.

5 Two examples of changes to the skin are ___________________ and

___________________.

6 What alternative to liposuction is suggested? ___________________

7 Feminists object to women being seen as ___________________ or

___________________.

8 The writer fears that one day we might be ___________________ of

other people.

Activity 3.21
Scan the passage to find which paragraph mentions each of the ideas
listed in the left-hand column of the table below.
48 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

Ideas Paragraph #

asserts cosmetic surgery is natural

explains the justification for cosmetic surgery

mentions feminist objections

discusses the problem of over-use

describes the popularity of cosmetic surgery

expands the topic beyond cosmetic surgery

first mentions objections

says cosmetic surgery suits the modern world

discusses moral values

lists types of cosmetic surgery

expresses the author’s worries about the future

Activity 3.22
Answer the following questions.

1 List three extra ways the writer refers to cosmetic surgery in

paragraph 1.

2 Look at paragraph 3, and find words that have the following

meanings:

a because of health (3 words)

b say they are wrong (2 words)

c on the whole (1 word)

d thought to be (2 words)

e is a good thing to do (2 words).

3 What is the author’s opinion of plastic surgery in paragraphs 1–9?

4 Now look at paragraph 10. Is the author’s attitude to plastic surgery in

this paragraph positive, negative or neutral? What words help to
signal the writer’s attitude.
 Module 3 49

Conclusion
This module has introduced you to three main sets of skills and strategies
for reading academic texts.

First, we considered some strategies for identifying the main points in a

text, including:

• orienting oneself towards the passage;

• using clues like the title, sub-headings and graphics to get a clear
picture of the main topic;

• skimming quickly through the passage, paying special attention to the

title, the beginning, and the end;

• focusing on the topic/first sentences of paragraphs;

• thinking about the logic of the passage and about how relationships
between ideas and paragraphs are ordered and organized; and

• taking note of discourse markers to determine the relationship

between ideas.

We then considered strategies for reading intensively and locating

specific information, including:

• scanning for specific information;

• working out the meaning of an unfamiliar word or phrase from its

context;

• using knowledge of word forms, word roots, prefixes and suffixes to

understand the meaning of an unfamiliar word;

• identifying possible synonyms for key words and phrases;

• unpacking complex sentences to identify their key ideas, and looking

for words or phrases that signal concessions or conflicting facts and
arguments; and

• identifying examples and distinguishing supporting information from

main points.

Finally, we looked at strategies for determining an author’s opinions,

attitudes and bias, including:

• using knowledge of words and phrases that connote positive, negative

and neutral viewpoints;

• determining the level of certainty in a passage by noting adverbs,

modal verbs and modifiers; and
50 ENGLE205F Preparing for IELTS

• assessing the level of assumed knowledge and specialist language,

and the degree to which the writer explains or defines uncommon or
technical words, to determine the intended audience of a passage.