Review exercise Understanding Cultures of the World

GRAMMAR REFERENCE
1) Rebecca has been with our organisation for five years and SHE DID A GREAT JOB / SHE IS DOING A
GREAT JOB.
2) His hard work really paid off HE WAS PROMOTED / HE HAS BEEN PROMOTED to Chief Adviser.
3) There have been serious problems with the merger, but we PROCEEDED / HAVE PROCEEDED with it
anyway.
4) The motor trade has been in the doldrums LAST YEAR / ALL YEAR.
5) Shes been promoted BECAUSE SHES BROUGHT OFF THAT DEAL / WHILE SHE WAS WORKING
AS HEAD OF R&D.
6) How long have you worked as Financial Adviser FOR YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER / BEFORE YOU
BECAME FINANCIAL DIRECTOR?
7) They say they LEFT / HAVE LEFT a message, but theres nothing on my answering machine.
8) They HOPED / WERE HOPING / HAD HOPED to organise a reception for their visitors, but it didnt
come off.
9) The new XY3 tyre series HAD REALLY TAKEN OFF / REALLY TOOK OFF / ARE REALLY TAKING
OFF but then they were all recalled after a spate of complaints.
10) Change to passive: We interviewed union representatives
Union representatives were interviewed by us
11) Change to passive: We held meetings with all heads of department
Meetings with all heads of department were held
12) Change to passive: Management have ignored suggestions / complaints
Suggestions / complaints have been ignored by management
13) Change to passive: We will introduce new performance reviews for managers from 1 December
New performance reviews will be introduced for managers from December 1.
14) Our sales results were SLIGHTLY / EXCEPTIONALLY / FAIRLY good. I made my targets with two
months to spare.
15) Do you really think we should invest in an INCREASINGLY / REASONABLY / SOMEWHAT volatile
market?
16) To be honest, I dont think she was EXCEPTIONALLY / REASONABLY / FULLY prepared. She
seemed to be reading it most of the time.
17) Entering the German market looks A BIT / EXTREMELY risky, but I dont think well encounter any
major problems. Lets do it.
18) AppleCar wants to market its auto in the United States first. THAT / THIS / IT will allow the product to
be tested before introducing it to the international market.
19) Traffic was lightnonexistent by eastern standardsmade up mostly of Jeeps or pickup trucks, the
FORMER / LATTER with a dog pacing the back bed in perfect balance.
20) I visited London and Cambridge during the holidays. The FORMER / LATTER is truly beautiful."
(Cambridge is beautiful).
21) Argentina' and 'country' are nouns. The FORMER / LATTER is a proper noun, the latter (is) a common
one.

WRITING SKILLS
22) The interrelated skills of essay-writing and reasoning are the two most important skills for success in
higher education. TRUE / FALSE
23) An essays introduction reflects the main issues that you seek to address. However, its not appropriate
to explain how you interpret the question. TRUE / FALSE
24) You should be able to sum up the basic opinion or argument of your essay in a couple of lines. It may
help to do this before you start writing. TRUE / FALSE
25) Outside of academia, argument usually refers to a disagreement. It tends to be an event; a physical
occurrence. This may be the sense of the word that is most familiar to you, but an academic argument
describes something quite different: it is essentially a point of view. TRUE / FALSE
26) A good argument (a sound argument) is a point of view that is presented in a clear and logical way, so
that each stage of reasoning is transparent and convincing; it will include evidence and possible
counter-arguments. However, it may never make the assumption that the reader is in disagreement with
you. TRUE / FALSE
27) Each word in a sentence can be defined by the role it plays. The different roles are known as parts of
speech. TRUE / FALSE
28) An adverb is a describing word, but for verbs, not nouns. TRUE / FALSE
29) Misusing punctuation can be like talking with a mouthful of food, obscuring and obstructing the intended
meaning. TRUE / FALSE
30) Playing around with syntax can transform your sentence. Even though you are struggling to make your
meaning clear in a sentence, never change the word order. TRUE / FALSE
31) It is a common practice to use the future tense in introductory sections of essays. The future tense can
sound uncertain and unconfident, however: you can be more assertive by writing in the present tense,
e.g. The purpose of this essay is to explore TRUE / FALSE
32) Semi-colons are very different from colons. Any two statements (or clauses) that are separated by a
semi-colon should (i) be able to stand alone as separate sentences, and (ii) be closely connected in
terms of their subject matter. TRUE / FALSE
33) Most experienced writers never write their work over and over. There is no point in refining ones
thoughts, finding a better way of saying something, making a long-winded section a bit briefer, or
adding more detail to develop an idea TRUE / FALSE
34) One of the most significant differences you will notice as your writing improves is a reduction in
superfluous (i.e. unnecessary) words. TRUE / FALSE
35) In recent years there has been an increase in the number of informal modes of written communication,
such as emailing, texting, and instant messaging. These have contributed to a rise in the number of
informal phrases that appear in more formal writing, such as the essay. TRUE / FALSE
36) If you are unsure whether or not to start a new sentence, you probably should, especially if you lack
confidence with colons and semicolons, which can be used to make more complex sentences. TRUE /
FALSE
37) A sentence should usually contain more than a single idea or argument; likewise, a paragraph should
contain more than a single theme or focus. TRUE / FALSE
38) The most common mistakes in essays arise from poor practice and decision-making relating to
reasoning, structure, argumentation, and presentation. TRUE / FALSE

39) To write well-structured and well-argued essays, it is not important that you develop your ability to
introduce and discuss the opinions of experts in your field. TRUE / FALSE
40) The key to a successful essay is good reasoning, i.e. each sentence and by extension each
paragraph flows logically into the next, building towards a well-reasoned and well-structured
argument. TRUE / FALSE
41) Beware the generalisation! It is often tempting to get carried away and apply our idea or opinion to
everything, but always be mindful of exceptions and counter-arguments. TRUE / FALSE
42) If you are making a claim that could be disputed by the reader, it is alright if you do not use any kind of
evidence to back it up. TRUE / FALSE
43) Avoid making indirect assumptions. This can be difficult because it is not always obvious to us when we
are being presumptuous, especially when we are trying to be open-minded. TRUE / FALSE
44) Your target audience is an intelligent reader who does not know anything about the subject but may be
familiar with the discipline and the main theories that are considered to be common knowledge. TRUE /
FALSE
45) Dont use contractions. Do not use contractions. Write in full. TRUE / FALSE
46) Use clichd phrases: Modern writing at its best does not consist in picking out words for the sake of
their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming
together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else. TRUE / FALSE