REVISION

Antonyms

Gradable antonyms

An example of a scale:

Huge / very big / BIG / quite big / medium-sized / quite small / SMALL / tiny

core average core

BIG is the unmarked form. (ex. We say How big is your house?, not How small is your house?)

Add the rest of the scale to each of the following gradable antonyms following the example above. Identify the unmarked form.

Hot / cold (water)

Interesting / boring (a film)

REGISTER

These extracts are drawn from different contexts of situation. Write in the table provided below, what you believe the contexts to be, what type of source the texts were taken from. Then comment more specifically on the register of the extract as for the field, tenor and mode of each text, listing some features of the language that helped you to make this identification.

1. LORD JUSTICE SIMON BROWN said that having accepted that the arresting officer genuinely suspected the claimant to be guilty of the unlawful possession of a firearm, the judge turned to the critical question: whether, considered objectively, reasonable grounds existed for the constable’s suspicion. The judge concluded that the burden of proof went back to the stage of the officer who placed the entry on the police national computer.

Table

2. Unlike air bags, seatbelts protect in all kinds of accidents, including frontal impacts, side impacts, rear impact and roll-overs. Steering-wheel or dash-mounted air bags are only effective in frontal impacts - accidents that account for only about half of all highway fatalities. That's why, to be fully protected, it's vital to wear a seatbelt even in trucks with air bags. And that's why air bags are considered "supplemental" or additional restraints to the primary retraints, the seatbelts. But some stupid schnooks refuse to wear their seatbelts - about 40% of all American drivers and occupants, despite laws in 49 states that require people to buckle up (New Hampshire, whose motto ironically is "Live Free or Die," is the one exception).

Table

3. Revised headlights and grille gave the Phase II Mark 5 Passat an aggressively dynamic look that perfectly reflects the improved handling characteristics imparted by its stiffer body. An improved range of features include head airbags, blue instrument backlighting with chrome-plated instrument surrounds. The choice of engines includes the Volkswagens revolutionary W8, and a wider choice of TDI's, including the new Sport model with its six-speed gearbox.

Table

4. The first step to buying a used car is a detailed assessment of your transportation needs. It's a good idea to answer the following questions.

How will the car be used? The first thing to do is to decide on a class of vehicle that best fits your lifestyle.

Who will be driving the car? And where? If you're concerned about taking your kids to soccer practice, you're probably going to need a car with lots of seating and storage capacity. If you're planning to use the car for commuting, gas mileage and comfort may be your biggest considerations.

What features best suit your needs?If there are features you simply must have--like air conditioning, lumbar supports or adjustable controls --make a list.

What are some vehicle safety features you are looking for? Are you interested in anti-lock brake systems, integrated seat belt systems, head injury protection, or child protection equipment?

How much can I afford to spend? Think about how much you're willing to spend, how much of a down payment you can make, and how much you can afford per month, long before you start the process. Refer to the section on "Paying for Your Car."

Table

5. On the way to the concert, Sharon and I had to take the exit that would lead to the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. So we got on the lane that would lead into the exit, but the exit came up really suddenly and we were going too fast to make the turn. What followed next is the biggest car crash I've been in. Since we couldn't make the turn, and since we were already in the exit lane, we ended up going straight in the bushes and crashed into a huge tree. The seat-belts were stretched, the air bags blew up, Sharon was screaming, and there was a lot of blood on my airbag (which had popped due to the impact of my face on it).

Table

6. After the accident, a panicked Lindsay rushed into a nearby antiques shop, ironically called Hideaway House Antiques. "She was not fleeing the scene of the accident," a source on the scene tells us. "Lindsay was in tears and in shock and she went into the store to get away from all of the paparazzi." A few minutes later, a source tells PerezHilton.com, "Lindsay's female friend went running out back to the car, which was totaled. She went and grabbed all of Lindsay's stuff out of the car, which still had her music BLASTING." Hmmm...wonder what could have been so important that Lindsay had in her car??? Perhaps she wanted to make sure she had her purse and anything in it with her for safekeeping. You know, like her drivers licenseand stuff.

Table

7. But even if we stipulate that there is a vaccination-autism correlation, that still is far, far short of what is needed to show causation. After all, autism is not going to be noticeable before particular stages of development; and children do not get various sorts of vaccinations until certain ages. So it may just be a coincidence of timing. Think of it this way: suppose that every 24-month-old in the country gets a particular vaccination, and that some completely different factor is causing autism either to develop or just to be diagnosed at around 24 months of age. Then, even though there may be many cases (like Scott's friend's daughter) in which it will look like the vaccination caused the autism, that would not in fact have been the case.

Table

8. The evil monster of a pediatrician we got screwed with by the hospital wanted our newborn son to get a hepatitis shot, even though my wife had a recent (during pregnancy) blood test showing no hepititis in her blood. It took a lot of fighting with him to stop it as he not only refused to admit the hospital we were in had done any blood test (which they had) but when faced with my copy of the original test results he could not see "Hep B Scr Neg" which in doctor speak means the hepetitis B test had been negative.

Doctors look at you like you are some sort of mad pagan when you tell them you want to wait until your child is old enough to talk before you start getting him shots. I want my son to be able to explain any odd symptoms he gets after any particular vaccination before he gets them. But the doctors want to toss you in the stocks like some sort of heretic for taking such a position.

Table

9. DOC: And so – do – What’s been bothering her.

MOM: Uhm she’s had a cough, and stuffing- stuffy

nose, and then yesterday in the afternoon she

started to get really goopy eyes, and every…

DOC: Mm hm,

MOM: Every few minutes she was having to…

DOC: hm Okay so she ha-

so when she woke up this morning were her eyes -

MOM: mm

DOC: all stuck shut

Table

10. Here, in line 1 the physician solicits the reason for the child’s visit with an open

solicitation. The mother describes several symptoms in response. In lines 3 to 5,

and line 7 she lists a cough, a stuffy nose, and “goopy” eyes. As was the case with

the symptoms offered in Extract 1, here too the mother makes no inference about

the cause of the problem but simply states the symptoms as the basis for the visit.

Whether the mother believes that the child’s condition is treatable is not disclosed

in her problem presentation. Rather, the presentation offers only symptoms for

evaluation and thus leaves it to the physician to determine whether and how the

condition will be treated.

Table

11. “Hi. I'm new on the net. Listen, on my modem, do I need the cable plugged into PHONE or LINE?”

“Line.”

“*pause* Which end of the cable should go in that plug?”

“The only end that fits."

“Oh. Hang on, I'll try it. *pause* Right, what do I do with the other end of the cable?”
“Plug it into a phone jack.”

“Okay, and will that be all I need to do to get on the net?”

“Have you followed thru our installation CD and manual?”

“Um..no.. Do I do that with you on the phone?”

“Madame, all you need to do is follow the manual that came with the CD”

“So you can't help me?”

“Well, you're not having any technical difficulty, you just need to follow through the installation process”.

“Oh. Bye!”