Final Reading Test - 20%

• Be sure to read the articles on genetically modified foods in your textbook, Unit 8.
• Remember that the reading test will take place in the first period on Tuesday, June 26, in the computer lab.
• The writing test (10%) will follow in the second period in the lab.
• Send the answers to the two tests to my two e-mails: fjbonkowski@cegep-st-laurent.qc.ca and fbonk@videotron.ca

Pascua Lama Simulation

Economic benefits vs. protection of the environment
As a class activity for the rest of the course, we are going to do a simulation based on the Pascua Lama Project.
What is a simulation? It's an extended group activity in which students take on roles and act out a real-world situation.
The Pascua Lama Project involves the controversial initiative of a Canadian mining company to extract gold reserves from two glaciers in waters belonging to Chile in South America. In this activity, you will:

• do research on the Internet and collect information
• create a bank of documents
• take notes on your reading
• write summaries of the information you found (posted on your blog under the section: Pascua Lama Project
• join a special interest group
• create a role as part of a special interest group, organization or company as well as an international tribunal
• develop your position, for, against or undecided on the Project
• write your own role card
• participate in group and whole class discussions
• evaluate your performance in the activity

There will be six groups of students (five groups of three and 1 group of 2):

1. News reporters from different news agencies: 3
2. Judges of an International Tribunal: 3
3. Representatives from international agencies, such as the United Nations: 2
4. Mining Company officials: 3
5. Environmentalists: 3
6. Chilian government officials: 3

The activity will extend over the next three classes. Your particiaption in the activity will be evaluated for speaking, reading and writing. In the last class on June 28 we will hold the trial before the International Tribunal.
Monday, June 18:
- Join one of the six groups mentioned above. Work with someone you haven't worked with previously. Choose a group leader to coordinate the work.- Get the general facts on the Project by searching information on the Internet, such as in newspapers. Take notes on the sources you found and put them on your wiki. Indicate which sources and summaries are yours.

Tuesday – Thursday, June 19 and 21:

1. Research information specifically related to your group. For example, mining company people should find out about the company, the purpose of the project and the benefits on carrying out the project. Decide on who does what in the group.

• Decide on your specific role.
  Write up your role card including: Title of special interest group
• Your name and position in the group
• A short statement of your point of view worded as such: (3 0r 4 lines) 'My name is ______. My responsibilities are ______ . I am primarily concerned with improving the quality of life by (give reasons). I also want to . . . - As you do research, keep a written record of your developing position.
• The team leader should insure that there are different positions in the group, ranging from pro-project and neutral to anti-project.

Thursday, June 28:
Session 1, testify before the International Tribunal.
Session 2, answer questions from the judges and other groups

Writing Correction Code

1. Thesis statement (main point of paper) weak or missing
2. Topic sentence (main point of paragraph) weak or missing
3. Supporting points or examples inadequate
4. Transitions (linking devices between paragraphs) weak or missing
5. Coherence (linking between sentences) weak or missing
6. Coordination / subordination expressions used incorrectly (and, but, although, whenever)Grammatical errors
7. Sentence fragment – subject or verb is missing
8. Run on sentence – two sentences running together without a conjunction
9. Use of weak expressions: “There is/there are.”
10. Starting sentence with “and” or “but.”
11. Verb form incorrect – missing 3rd person “s” or “ed” on past or irregular verb
12. Verb tense (time of action) incorrect
13. Inappropriate shifting between present and past tens
14. Incorrect use of reported speech (He said, “The class is fun.”
15. Subject / verb agreement is incorrect (singular / plural)
16. Pronoun (he, she, it …) incorrect
17. Adjective / adverb incorrectLanguage use (syntax, spelling, vocabulary, punctuation)
18. Redundant word or phrase
19. Wrong word
20. Word order incorrect
21. Incomplete comparison
22. Apostrophe incorrect
23. Spelling incorrect
24. Unidiomatic expression
25. Comma ( , ) or semicolon ( ; ) incorrect
26. Capitalization incorrect (English, Canadian, Monday)

Writing Evaluation Grading Criteria

Here is the grading criteria for writing:

• Content and Coherence
  - Organisation, clear thesis, paragraph topics, structured intro and conclusiong [25 points]
  - Development of main point through analysis, detail or example [25 points]
• Grammar and Syntax
  - variety of sentence types [25 points]
• Vocabulary, punctuation, spelling [25 points]
  - word choice, accurate usage

See Writing correction code for the key to the numbers.

Top Brands

Check out this site for the top 100 brand names:
www.finfacts.com/brands.htm

Revised Writing Test - June 14

• Write a five hundred word essay based on the five sources you collected and annotated.


• You will have 90 minutes to write it on Thursday, June 14, between 10:30 and 12:00.


• Use the basic essay format: Introduction, body of the essay and conclusion.


• It is recommended to prepare an outline for your essay. You can put the outline on your blog and refer to it during the exam.


• You can refer to the five sources you collected during the exam.


• Look at the following site for information on basic essay writing. It provides valuable suggestions on deciding on your topic, preparing an outline, writing your thesis statement, and composing the three parts of the essay. http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/index.html

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Sample: Mid-Term Reading Test Revised

This will be used as a practice activity and will count for five bonus points.

Part 1: Steps to reading for understanding

(Answer the five questions in connection with the five short texts.)



Part 2: Analyzing what you have read

(Answer the seven questions in connection with the five short texts.)

Monday Tests - June 11

Here is the schedule for Monday, June 11:
1. Survey presentations: (10%)
Group 1 Eric and Martin 9:15 AM
Group 2 Quynh Chi Phan, Victor Sum 9:30 AM
Group 3 Danna St-Gérard and Absatu Barrie 9:45 AM
Group 4 Lyne Laurin and Mériam Kerdoudi 10:00 AM

2. Listening test (10%) - 20-25 minutes

3. Reading test (10%) : critical reading
- Refer to this site for reading practice:
http://www.satpracticetest.us/verbal/critical_reading/critical_reading_questions.htm

- refer to this site for critical reading questions that you will use in showing your understanding of the text:
http://iws.ohiolink.edu/~sg-ysu/critread.html

4. Directions for the reading test:

- Go to the site: http://www.knowthis.com/tutorials/principles-of-marketing/consumer-buying-behavior.htm
- Read sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 only.
- Go to the “Critical Reading” Web site for the questions you will respond to: http://iws.ohiolink.edu/~sg-ysu/critread.html
- Write a response in your blog, entitled 'Mid-term Reading Evaluation,' showing your understanding of the 5 texts.
- In Part 1 of your response, answer questions 1-5 in “Steps to Reading for Understanding.”
- In Part 2 of your response, answer questions 1-7 in “Analyzing What You Have Read.”

Writing a process essay

A process essay describes how something is done. It generally explains actions that should be performed in a series. It can explain in detail how to accomplish a specific task, or it can show how an individual came to a certain personal awareness. The essay could be in the form of step-by-step instructions, or in story form, with the instructions/explanations subtly given along the way. Source: http://depts.gallaudet.edu/englishworks/writing/essay.html#process, cited June 7, 2007. Look at pp. 206-207 in your textbook, LEAP, for information on writing a process essay as well as an example of n process essay.

Here are two useful Web sites for writing a process essay:

http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/process.html
Tells you what points to consider when writing a process essay. It provides a list of time expressions you could use, such as 'afterwards' and 'currently.' There is also an example of a short process essay.

http://amarris.homestead.com/files/process_essay.html
This site stresses the importance of using an outline to organize your ideas. It also provides an example of a process essay.

Assignment for June 7

1. Please find one Interent Web site in connection with your survey topic. Be ready to give a short report on what you found.

2. Read "Consumer and business buyer behaviour" on pp. 48-55. Answer the questions on pp. 56-58. Be ready to participate in a roundtable discussion on the article dealing with these questions:
a. What surprised you?
b. Did you agree or disagree with the information?
c. Do you have an opinion on any of the issues?
d. Do you think there is any bias in the writing?

See on Thursday.

Tips for oral presentations

Here are some good Web sites for advice on speaking in public:

http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html
This site talks about the importance of body language, speaking with conviction, not reading from notes, looking at your audience and so on.

http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/Dept/Tips/present/comms.htm
This is a British site. It talks about preparing the talk, making the presentation, the delivery and using visual aids.

http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~billups/courses/ma5594/tips_oral.html
This site talks about timing and content.

Survey activity

Use the following Web page as a common work site for the survey activity.

http://survey102b.pbwiki.com/

Each team can work together online to post and edit your survey questions, results, and report.

Learning prefixes

Here is a very useful site for learning English vocabulary, particularly prefixes: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/prefixes.htm

Editing Checklist

Content
1. The content is interesting with complex, relevant ideas.
2. The thesis is well developed and supported logically with substantial, specific arguments.
3. Paragraphs contain a topic sentence.
4. There is successful use of coherent devices.
5. Word choice or use of vocabulary is appropriate

Grammar and Mechanics
6. Each sentence has a subject and a complete verb.
7. Non-count nouns are not immediately preceded by a, an, or one or made plural by adding an –s.
8. Subject and verb are in agreement—i.e. both subject and verb endings agree in number.
9. Words are spelled properly (do not rely solely on spell check). Beware of homophones (words that sound alike but mean different things)!
10. Singular pronouns refer to singular words, and plural pronouns refer to plural words (the apple=it; the neighbors=they).
11. If a quote is longer than four lines, it has been blocked.
12. It’s= it is, its=possessive, there=place, their=possessive, they’re=they are.
13. Writing is precise (states your exact meaning) and concise (avoids excessive words, phrases, or sentences that do not add to your meaning).
14. Verb tense is consistent. When talking about art (literature, film, books, etc.), use present tense.
15. Tone is consistent and appropriate for audience and occasion.

Punctuation
16. All sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
17. Commas separate independent clauses (clauses that could be complete sentences themselves) and are joined by a coordinating conjunction (and/for/nor/yet/but/or/so).
18. Independent clauses joined by a connecting word (however, thus, therefore, etc) have a semicolon (;) before and a comma following the connecting word.
19. Semicolons separate independent clauses that do not have joining words or coordinating conjunctions.
20. Commas follow introductory words, phrases, and clauses that come before the main clause.
21. Commas are used when three or more items are listed in a series.
22. Commas are used to separate two or more adjectives that describe the same noun equally.
23. Apostrophes show possession or contraction.
24. Proper nouns are capitalized.
25. In quotations, any necessary periods and commas are placed inside the end quotation marks.

Josh Freed on Poutine-Montreal Gazette, May 26

Poutine powering its way up the food chain and is poised to become our national dish.
The trendiest new Montreal food fashion is – poutine. Quebec’s low-status, high-calorie junk food has powered its way up the food chain and is poised to become our official national dish – and our most famous export since the snowmobile.
Three days ago, poutine was celebrated in a New York Times feature that called it a “gloppy, caloric, stick-to-your-ribs concoction … Montreal’s emblematic, problematic, comedic junk food … that goes deep into the Quebec psyche.’’
This was only days after The Gazette ran its own story about a fashionable Manhattan restaurant where poutine is suddenly the best-selling item.
Poutine is oozing its way across the continent’s menus from Toronto and Vancouver to Boston, Buffalo, Miami and L.A. It’s been praised everywhere from Gourmet magazine to Salon.com. But there’s more to the new poutine craze than cheese, fries and gravy.
Today, posh poutines feature everything from Gorgonzola cheese and Parisienne peppercorn sauce, to smoked meat and smoked salmon, to hamburger steak and poutine au boeuf bourguignon. And poutine fever is spreading faster than heart disease.
In Montreal, the college crowd has embraced it as the new 24-7 food fad, bumping out 99-cent pizza as the post-partying midnight snack.
The hottest Montreal Internet entertainment website is called Midnight Poutine.
Poutine is becoming a global Montreal symbol that has threatened to surpass smoked meat and bagels for coveted national food status. How did this low-end concoction become a gourmet fashion food?
Quebecers have always liked dangerous dining, so poutine was always an easy fit – a highwire, high-cholesterol adventure that’s the jaywalking of junk food. It recklessly combines three major artery-clogging ingredients, including barbecue sauce so thick it could get classified as motor oil in Ontario.
Here in the Plateau, you can’t throw a french fry these days without watching it land in fivepeppercorn gravy and Stilton cheese curds. Personally, I enjoy the Kamikaze poutine (with hot peppers, merguez and Tabasco) served at La Banquise – a popular 24-7, 22-flavour poutine palace that is mobbed after midnight.
But I’ve passed on their T-Rex poutine that adds bacon, hamburger steak, smoked sausage and pepperoni. For many years, sophisticated francophones hated poutine as an embarrassment that mocked Quebec culture – the joual of the food world. But in recent years, poutine has been rehabilitated as a camp food so disgusting, it’s beautiful.
Its big break came in 2004, when Montreal’s Au Pied du Cochon restaurant received rave reviews from U.S. chef Anthony Bourdain, who praised its arteryclogging foie gras poutine. Overnight, Quebec’s specialty went from low cuisine to haute poutine. Within weeks, I was invited to eat there by two major U.S. magazine writers who both loved the stuff. Soon, many top Montreal chefs were adding poutine to their menus, combining it with everything from truffle oil and blue cheese to caviar.
Visiting Torontonians were suddenly asking me where to get the stuff like it was a drug, though many wondered if they could replace the gravy and cheese with arugula, seaweed or sun-dried leechee nuts. By now, Russia was ruled by a president whose French name is pronounced Poutine, making the dish even more camp. So it’s no surprise it’s starting to conquer fashionable New York, where at least three well-known eateries serve it.
In our puritanical, cholesterolcounting world, poutine is the ultimate anti-fashion statement, a tasty, funny, gooey joke-on-aplate that says: “Live now – have bypass surgery later.”
What next? As the dish spreads globally, will we see other countries offering paella poutine, or fish-and-chips poutine, or sweet and sour pineapple chicken poutine? How about fettucine-Alfredo-and-sushi-enchilada-fusion poutine?
How long before someone discovers its secret health and ecological values – and comes up with a green poutine. Just how far can it soar?
On CBC’s series The Greatest Canadian Invention, poutine came in 10th, beating the BlackBerry, lacrosse, basketball, the snowblower, standard time and even the retractable beer carton handle. As its stature grows, will there be pressure to honour it with a Quebec landmark.
Maybe we could rename the Lachine Rapids the Poutine Rapids?
Meanwhile, last week graduating McGill student Rebecca Shapiro alerted me to the latest poutine development. Apparently, midnight-munching students are often torn between pizza and poutine – so an enterprising chef at Bella Dona Pizza on Mount Royal Ave. has solved the dilemma with a new creation – the “pizza-poutine.”
I dropped by at 1 a.m. Thursday, and the place was packed with students feasting on this new concoction. The greying cook, Husein, told me he first came up with a french fries pizza several months ago – and then in a recent “Eureka!” moment, he thought to add cheese glops and gravy.
The result is so successful it outsells the all-dressed pizza, Husein declares proudly. So if you’re too old for rock-climbing and too scared for skydiving, there is still one truly daring thrill anyone can experience.
Visit Bella Dona and try Extreme Poutine. (821 words)

Welcome

Welcome to the summer version of 102B, a five-week journey for learning English for academic purposes.

I hope you enjoy the class. I know I will.