Form 3 English Language

Chapter 3: A Scenic View

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3.1. Introduction
3.2. Dialogues and interviews
3.3. Narrating an event
3.4. Intensive reading - evaluation and synthesis
3.5. Adjectives and adverbs
3.6. Descriptive composition
3.7. Summary
3.8. Expected/Possible answers

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3.1. Introduction

In this chapter you will be introduced to dialogues and interviews and also study conversation skills and how these help in everyday life. These will prepare you for later life as you come across formal communication situations such as interviews. You will also get an opportunity to narrate events that you would have come across. Sharing experiences with friends is a communication opportunity that presents itself to us on a daily basis as we talk to friends and family.

Zimbabwe is blessed with numerous tourist places which have attracted many tourists to visit our beautiful country. Have you ever visited any one of the tourist destinations? In this chapter, you will read a story which describes one of the beautiful scenic views of the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.

We hope the language used in the text will help you when you write your composition. Language structures you will learn in this chapter are not new as you have been introduced to adjectives and adverbs before. They will help you improve descriptive skills you will practice together with narrative skills learnt in the speaking practice section in writing a descriptive composition.

Objectives

After going through this chapter, you should be able to

• listen with concentration.
• report on broadcasts.
• engage in meaningful dialogues.
• draw inferences from written texts.
• summarise a text.
• describe processes and events.
• construct grammatically correct sentences.

Key terms

Adverb - A word that describes or gives more information about a verb, adjective, adverb or phrase.
Adjective - A word that describes a noun or pronoun.
Context - Setting, or situation surrounding a word or event.
Dialogue - A conversation or talk with someone.
Interview - A meeting in which someone asks you questions to see if you are suitable for a job or course.

Time

You should not spend more than 8 hours in this chapter.

Study skills

Make use of the following skills for this chapter.

• Attentive listening - Pay attention to every detail you read so that you understand everything.
• Note-making - Write down notes through each exercise to record what you learnt.
• Scanning - Quickly go through the passage identifying the main points.
• Skimming - Look for information which is necessary only and discard the rest.

3.2. Dialogues and interviews

When two people talk to each other, we say they are involved in a dialogue. They take turns to speak to each other, this is called turn- taking. You have held a dialogue with someone at one time, haven’t you? Now take time to listen to the following dialogue as your friend reads it out. If there is no one to assist you and you have a phone or sound recorder, record the dialogue as you pretend to be the two people talking. Now you can listen to the dialogue.

Dialogue

Mary: Good morning Susan, it’s been a long time.
Susan: Ah! Long time really, where are you going to?
Mary: Mom sent me to go and ask our cousin James to come and take care of our house while we are away.
Susan: Away? Where are you going to?
Mary: We will be going to our rural home in Chihota over the weekend.
Susan: What? Rural areas, why do you agree to such an arrangement?
Mary: Is there anything wrong... (Susan interjects)
Susan: In this time and age you...
Mary: Please wait let me explain, we can’t talk at the same time.
Susan: Ok, go on am listening.

What did you observe when the two people were speaking to each other? Suppose you observed that these two friends had a smooth dialogue until Susan tried to interrupt the conversation. However, Mary had to interject to restore order. From the information you have just read about dialogues, do the following task.

Exercise 3.1.

What are the advantages of speaking without interrupting each other?
List the advantages of engaging in a talk without interrupting and disrupting each other.
You have done well in coming up with your answers. You can still do well to compare them with the following answers.

1. There is smooth flow of information.
2. There is a peaceful atmosphere.
3. Listening attentively gives the listener time to think over the words listened to.
4. It gives the listener time to think of possible responses.

Exercise 3.2.

Now that you have an idea of what a dialogue is and its characteristics, I want you to think of a topic on some of the topical issues. For example, you can look at topics like abolition of corporal punishment in schools, giving away girls as compensation and should sex education be part of the school curriculum and any other topic, the list is endless.

Find a friend or your study-mate and hold a dialogue on one or two of the topics of your choice. Remember that as you dialogue, there should be a smooth flow in your conversation without interruption. Having been satisfied record your dialogue and write it down in a separate sheet.

Interviews

In everyday communication, people need to be attentive listeners so that they can also be effective speakers. This is important as we consider interviews. Turn-taking is important in interview situations where one person asks a question (interviewer) and another person responds to the question (interviewee).

Have you ever been called to an office by any official and asked some questions that need your immediate responses? May be you have or have not, but today you will have an experience of an interview. You applied for a post as a cook and you have been called for an interview. It is important to list what you need to do in order to prepare adequately for this interview. Now you have been called to attend an interview for a job as a cook Write down your interview preparation notes in your workbook.

Exercise 3.3.

You have done well in coming up with a list of preparation steps. But if you have not done this exercise, make sure you do it before you continue with your work. You will need the information to do other important exercises soon. You can check some of the preparatory steps at the end of the chapter.

Now imagine you are in an interview room. The interviewer will ask you questions and you will respond to the questions. Take turns with your friend to play the roles of interviewer and interviewee. You may also be the interviewer. However, if you are alone, you can record the interview questions on a voice recorder. Allow about three minutes of silence between each question to enable you to answer back without any interruption.

Exercise 3.4.

Interviewer: Good morning. Would you like to tell us more about yourself?
You: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Interviewer: Why are you interested in this job?
You: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Interviewer: If you get this job, how do you intend to improve this company?
You: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Interviewer: Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?
You: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
Interviewer: Thank you for your interest in our company. You shall be notified of the interview outcome in due course

It is important to be confident and relaxed when you are in an interview. The first question requires you to say everything about yourself as you will have had a chance to advertise yourself. Think of your capabilities, your successes and responsibilities, however you should not digress. It is wise not to focus on the monetary value of the job but your interest should show that you have a passion for the job. You will have to prove that you will be an asset to the company by bringing improvement. Dress should be appropriate and remember punctuality is important.

3.3. Narrating an event

In chapter 2 you wrote a narrative composition, do you still remember how we defined a narrative composition? Yes, you are clever if you still remember. We hope you remember that to narrate is to tell. When you share your weekend experiences with your friends, you are actually narrating your experiences. When you go hunting alone and when you return to share your hunting experiences, you are actually narrating. Take note that a narration is a dramatic account where you give a series of events in a specified time and place.

Exercise 3.5.

You encountered a number of events today. You could have witnessed an accident, watched people fight, or carried out an activity yourself. We want you to go to your study partner or your friend or a member of your family and narrate any of your experiences. Allow your audience to ask any questions on your experiences.

Imagine you went out hunting, briefly give a narration of your experiences in the bush following the guidelines listed below. Write your experiences in your workbook and be in a position to read out what you experienced.

• When you went hunting
• Where you went hunting
• What experiences you encountered
• What animals you caught
• Reaction from your family or friends

Exercise 3.6.

You narrated an imaginary hunting experience in the last exercise, this was to give you an experience of giving detail when you report an event. What do you enjoy doing during your pastime? Some people watch soccer, some play games and others go to church. As you go to your favorite place this time you are going with a purpose. Think about your purpose first. We want you to take note of any incident that may occur, when you come back home you narrate what happened to your family or friend. Your narration should give all the finer details and be logical. Who knows may be one day you will end up being a journalist so there is need to give a detailed narration focusing on main ideas.

We hope in this section you have learnt a few things that will help you speak confidently and present your speech logically. What else did you learn?

3.4. Intensive reading - evaluation and synthesis

In chapter 2 under the sub-heading Intensive Reading the terms “Skimming and Scanning” were explained to you, do you remember what was said? Quite correct if you said skimming is going over a passage quickly and scanning as reading to identify specific information. Intensive reading is when you read for deep understanding, to comprehend and be able to answer both simple recall questions and high order questions. In chapter 2 you read a passage and wrote a summary, that was one way of testing if you had understood the passage. In this sub-unit you will read a passage and answer questions which require you to answer simple recall questions where answers are readily available. You will also infer meanings of words as they are used in the passage. Some questions will require you to combine bits of information in order to come up with an answer. This process is called evaluation and synthesizing.

You will notice that the questions you will meet vary in their level of difficulty.

Example

1. What is the name of the high-density suburb?
2. In which year was the place first settled?

You will find answers to these questions by simply referring to the text and picking on the answers. As you skim and scan through the passage you can easily pick such answers.

Some questions will require that you synthesize and analyze information to come up with the correct answer. The answers lie hidden in the text and you will have to carefully read.

Example

In your own words, explain the quoted words “from here you follow a winding course...”
The examiner wants to find out if you understand the meaning of the words used in the quote.

Describe what would happen if one took one’s eyes off the road while driving.
You will have to use your imagination to come with an answer, considering the dangerous slopes in the mountain.

You have always looked up meanings of words in the dictionary isn’t it? In an examination you may not have the opportunity of using the dictionary. You will have to infer or derive the meanings of words as they are used in the text. How do you do it? You may ask. Some words have many meanings and it will be necessary to read a few lines before and after the word to get how it has been used. You will have to guess some of the meanings of words based on context.

Note: Silent reading is best for comprehension.

Exercise 3.7.

Read the following passage silently, identify new words as you read and check their meaning to help you understand the passage. Attempt all the questions given.

A scenic view

(Adapted from English Today student’s Book 4: A Comprehensive English Course. Published by ZPH 2010.)

Exercise 3.8.

Having read the passage, make an attempt to answer all the questions from this passage.

1. From paragraph 1

   1. 1. Which one word from paragraph one refers to people who come from other countries to see places of interest?   [1]
      2. What is the meaning of “sleeping” in the first sentence?   [1]
   
   

   From paragraph 2

   2. 1. In your own words, describe in one sentence what the writer is saying about development in the town of Chimanimani.   [2]
      2. Is the Charter Sawmill a successful business? Why do you say so?   [2]
      3. “From here you follow a winding course...” Explain the quoted words in your own words.   [1]
   3. 1. A vehicle which “has seen its better days would not make it to climb.” Explain the expression.   [2]
      2. Using your own words,describe what would happen if one took one’s eyes off the road while driving   [2]
      
      

      From paragraph 6

      3. Why is it difficult to resist the temptation of getting out of the vehicle to lookaround?   [1]
      4. Why is the descent of the Save River notorious?   [1]
2. 1. Choose five words from the following words or phrases from those listed below.
   2. For each, give one word or short phrase (of not more than seven words) which has the same meaning as used in the passage.
      1. occasional (line 3)
      2. settled (line 6)
      3. hive of activity (line 11)
      4. wind (line 19)
      5. wreckage (line 23)
      6. journalist (line 30)
      7. notorious (line 52)
      8. without detection (line 6)
   [5]
   [Total 20 marks]

Now that you have read through the passage, how did you find the passage? Difficult or manageable? The questions were a mixed bag, some needed simply recalling what you read and the majority of questions needed analyzing and synthesizing. If you think you did not do well, you refer to the last page of the chapter where you will find answers to cross check. Please do not check on the answers before you attempt the questions.

3.5. Adjectives and adverbs

Adjective

What is an adjective? Use your previous knowledge from primary school to define it. Did you say it is a word that describes a noun or pronoun? If so, that is very good. Yes, an adjective describes a noun. You definitely remember that a noun is a name, be it of a person or an object. A pronoun replaces a noun to avoid repetition.

Example: Mary (noun), “she” (pronoun); the children (noun), “they” (pronoun).

Adjectives have the following structure. Adjectives have different types of attributes for example:

Example

The reckless driver did not respect traffic lights: quality of the driver
The huge, round rocks rolled swiftly down the mountain: size, shape of rocks - more than one adjective

• An adjective always comes before a noun: A cloudy sky; A dangerous driver; Clustered houses.
• Some adjectives come after verbs: The building looked dilapidated; The children wore dirty, patched shorts.
• Some adjectives modify pronouns: It rained heavily; She wore expensive clothes.
• Some adjectives have particular endings, e.g:
  • -able/-ible → washable/illegible
  • -ish/-like → foolish/childlike
  • -ful/-less → careful/careless
  • -ous/-ious → dangerous/ harmonious
  • -y → dirty/curly
• At times you can use two or more adjectives in one sentence: It is black and white; The team wore bright yellow uniforms.

Exercise 3.9.

From the 5 groups of adjectival forms above, write two full sentences from each form of adjective to show that you have understood.   [10]

We hope you managed to write meaningful sentences from each group. If you had problems revisit the five forms.

In your reading comprehension passage on “A Scenic view”, the passage is descriptive in nature with some adjectives used to describe places and incidences. The use of adjectives gives a better and clear meaning to the sentence and improves the quality of the text.

Exercise 3.10.

Go through the passage,A scenic view and identify adjectives that have been used to modify nouns from paragraph one to the end. There are quite a number of them. From the list try to write the attributes of each adjective. If you have forgotten the attributes go back to the examples at the beginning of the section on adjectives.

Example

The glittering Chimanimani mountains – quality.
The Rhodesian security forces – origin and function.

After this exercise on adjectives, we are certain you are going to improve the quality of your sentence construction by using a variety of these adjectives. Check at the end of the chapter if you managed to pick all the adjectives.

Adverb

Can you tell me what an adverb is? Look at the word, it is self-explanatory. Hopefully you said it tells us more about the verb. You are very right. It qualifies the verb. It answers to how, when and where an action was done.

Example

The bell rang loudly. - (how)
She went to the river after lunch. - (when)
The madman lives by the road side. - (where)

Adverbs can also modify adjectives and also modify another adverb. You still remember what we said adjectives are? If you have forgotten go back to the section on adjectives. They tell us more about the noun.

Example

James is extremely (adverb) intelligent (adjective).
He drove extremely fast (adverb and adverb).

Exercise 3.11.

To show that you have understood the adverbs, write the following sentences.

• 2 sentences on adverbs showing how the action was done.
• 2 sentences on adverbs showing when the action was done.
• 2 sentences on adverbs showing where the action was made.
• 2 sentences on adverbs modifying an adjective and another adverb.
[8]

Hint: Refer to examples given to construct correct sentences.

Exercise 3.12.

Go back to the comprehension passage that you read, the passage described the town of Chimanimani and other scenic views observed in the area. Activities were qualified using adverbs. Revisit the passage and see how many adverbs you can identify. Start from paragraph one to the end. If you identify 10, that is very good. List them in your workbook and say whether the adverb answers to how, when and where the action was done.

Example

Occasional influx – how
Soon covered - when

Exercise 3.13.

Select 8 of the adverbs and use them in well-constructed sentences to show that you have understood the meanings of the adverbs and how they have been used. How many adverbs did you manage to identify? You can cross check your list with the list at the back of the chapter.

3.6. Descriptive composition

In chapter 1 you wrote a free composition and the focus was on characteristics of a paragraph. You dealt with topic and supporting sentences. We believe you now know how to write a good paragraph with coherent ideas. Do you still remember the type of composition you wrote in chapter 2? We believe you said narrative composition, that’s right. You used figurative language in developing your story to give the reader an interesting story that appeals to all senses. In this chapter you will write a descriptive composition using descriptive language. You will have to use descriptive language to capture the interest of the reader, all types of composition need this. You will describe people, places nature and processes in order to get better marks. You will have to rely on the internet, The Students Companion and read widely to improve your vocabulary. In this composition you will use adjectives and adverbs you studied in the Supporting language structures to give better descriptions.

Can you give me some of the attributes of adjectives? We hope you said they describe colour, size, quality and age just to name a few. How about adverbs? They give additional meaning to verbs by telling us how, where and when actions happened. Refer to the examples used in the Supporting language structures. Here is an example of an introductory paragraph which has a number of adjectives and adverbs.

Exercise 3.14.

Underline all the descriptive words in the passage that follows and classify them as indicated on the table.

Taurai had a very unhappy childhood. Born as an only child, he lost both parents in a traffic accident when he was only five. Narrowly escaping death in the accident, Taurai slightly suffered a minor brain damage which resulted in a speech defect. After the tragic death of his parents, Taurai was adopted by an aunt. He behaved quite carefully avoiding clashes with his aunt. She was a harsh woman who had a loud, impatient voice.As a result, Taurai became a timid, withdrawn boy. Quite easy isn’t it? Check for correct answers on the answer sheet at the end of the chapter.

Exercise 3.15.

We would like you to write a composition describing as vividly as you can, the town, village or farm where you grew up in. Include the best memories of your childhood, your essay should be 350 - 450 words.

Topic: The town/farm where I grew up.

Hint: Remember to make use of the hints you learnt on writing paragraphs. If you have forgotten refer to chapter 1.

Reflection

Now take a few moments to reflect on what you learnt in chapter 3. For listening skills, you did dialogues and interviews. What important points do you remember? In case you have forgotten go back to the previous exercises and refresh. Remember what is needed to prepare for interviews. Listening and speaking skills are closely related. Find out why that is so. What else is important for effective narration? What challenges did you face on reading skills? Was it easy to use the context to find meanings of words. You answered simple recall questions and higher order questions.If you have challenges go over the chapter and have a lot of practice.

3.7. Summary

In chapter 3, you covered listening, speaking, reading, writing and supporting language structures. The topics were not very new as you have repeatedly learnt the skills from primary school. You have been equipped with listening skills through interviews and dialogues. However, you need to practice listening to a wide variety of items to polish up the skill. Make an effort to speak the language all the time to improve your speaking skills. Narration of events was done in this chapter but there are so many issues to talk about. There are many Supporting language structures but you only did adjectives and adverbs. Practise these structures and improve your descriptive skills both in writing and speaking skills. You have covered quite a number of comprehension skills so far. Evaluation and synthesis will help you tackle complicated comprehension questions.

3.8. Expected/Possible answers

Exercise 3.2: Dialogues and interviews

• Try to get information about the job you are being interviewed for.
• Have a pre-visit to the place of interview so that you know the geography of the area.
• Check if you have relevant documents, that is relevant certificates with certified copies and your identification card.
• Dress formally.
• Be confident.
• Be punctual.

Exercise 3.8: Comprehension questions

Question 1a

1. Tourist.   [1]
2. There is nothing exciting that happens in the town.   [1]

Question 1b

1. Since 1891 there was no development [1], the residents thought someone would come and do it.   [1]
2. Charter Sawmill is a successful business [1] because the Sawmill is always busy processing logs.   [1]
3. The road has many turns as it goes uphill.   [1]

Question 1c

1. An old car [1] would not manage to go up the hill.   [1]
2. They marvel at the beauty of the waterfall [1] and the skill that used in constructing the road.   [1]

Question 2a

1. If you took your eyes off the road, it would be very dangerous [1] because the accident would kill you before you tell others what you saw.   [1]
2. There is a breathtaking view.   [1]
3. It has caused many accidents that have killed many people.   [1]

Question 2b - Vocabulary

Exercise 3.10: Adjectives

• sleeping town
• glittering mountains
• small town
• south western side
• first ten kilometers
• indomitable charter sawmill
• hive of activity
• heavy pine trees
• unwanted chips
• ever-burning furnace
• winding course
• churning waters
• small compound
• occasional waterfall
• fatal mistake
• chimurenga war
• rhodesian forces
• large clearing
• breathtaking view
• beautiful valley
• granite rocks
• nasty descent
• road accidents
• gruesome bus accident
• clump of bushes
• ever burning

Exercise 3.12: Adverbs

• occasional influx – how
• soon covered – when
• hive of activity – how
• climb steeply – how
• constant reminder – when
• blow against – how
• thickly carpeted – how
• hardly feeling – how
• rising majestically – how

Exercise 3.14: Adjectives and adverbs