PRACTICE
SECTION 1: Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). (10 points)
1. _____ Themes of different types can occur in one clause.
_ Offering is one of the perlocutionary acts of the utterance “Would you like some tea?”.
2. _____ Discourse Analysis takes well-formed structures as its source of data.
_ Just like ethnomethodologists, the Birmingham School tried to establish the smallest
3. _____ units first.
_ Discourses can be classified in terms of formality or reciprocity, depending on research
4. _____ purposes.
_
5. _____
_
SECTION 2: Fill in each gap with an appropriate word. (10 points)
1. In this following-up move of a classroom exchange “That’s right. Good. I’m pleased with you.”
there are three _______________.
2. A(n) ___________________ theme reveals something of the attitude of the speaker or writer.
3. _________________, a turn type in conversation, occurs in the utterance “I’m heading off to Da
Lat; oh, I mean Dak Lak”.
4. Such utterances as ‘Fantastic!’ or ‘Oh no!’ often perform the ______________ function of
language.
5. ______________________is the social and physical world which interacts with text to create
discourse.
SECTION 3: Name the types and subtypes of the cohesive devices (referring expressions, substitution,
ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion) for the underlined expressions in the following passage. (20
points)
Note:
+ In the case of referring expressions, identify their referents
+ In the case of substitution and ellipsis, restore the information substituted or ellipted.
Girl: Hi, Ben! Only one more week at college, and then the summer holidays begin. Great, isn’t it!
Boy: I don’t know1. It might get a bit boring. I don’t think I’ve got enough money to go anywhere nice
for a holiday this year.
Girl: It would be nice to have lots of money to spend but a good holiday2 doesn’t have to be expensive.
Boy: Oh, yes it does3! The best holiday I ever had was a few years ago when I went to Greece. I want to
fly off somewhere hot, and lie on the beach.
Girl: Yes, well, I can’t afford to do that4, either.
Boy: So5 what are you doing this summer?
Girl: I’m going on a walking holiday in Scotland with some friends. Why don’t you come with us? We’re
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going for two weeks. It won’t cost6 much, and you’ll come home feeling really relaxed and fit.
Boy: I’m not sure7. Walking all day sounds like hard work to me. And surely, you’re not hoping for lots
of sunshine in Scotland?
Girl: It did rain a bit last year, but most of the time it was sunny. Anyway, it’s not good walking in the
heat.
Boy: Well, I like the sun8, and I like to stay in comfortable hotels, not Youth Hostels!
Girl: But they9 are comfortable, they’re basic, and the food’s often not very good, but they’re very clean
and cheap.
Boy: Maybe10. Look, Lisa, thanks a lot for asking me, but I think I’ll just stay home and get bored!
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SECTION 4: Based on your understanding of the English structures of themes and information,
rewrite the numbered sentences or clauses to create a coherent text. (10pts)
Dictionaries are among the most important tools of self-education. As Samuel Johnson wrote his
influential English dictionary in the eighteenth century, the work kept him busy for seven years. [1]
The meanings of over forty thousand words had been written by him at the end of that
period. [2]It is most modern dictionaries that require is a great deal less time and effort to
write because [3] earlier dictionaries are often used as a source of reference by writers.
Nowadays, [4] teams of writers, or lexicographers put together most dictionaries.
Sometimes they need to work together in meetings; at other times [5] it is on different parts of
the dictionary that they work independently of each other.
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SECTION 5: Identify the theme(s)and rheme of each of the clauses in the following stretch of
language. What are its thematic progression patterns? (10 points)
Swimming is generally considered to be one of the best ways of exercising the whole body without
risk of injury. According to health experts, it can also ease back pain and even reduce blood
pressure. There is only one problem: to enjoy all the benefits of swimming, you have to do it
properly. Poor techniques may result from a number of factors including anxiety, the swimmer‘s
lack of body awareness, or just a concern about making their hair wet. What’s more, swimming
techniques do not always improve with practice. On the contrary, once people have fallen into
bad habits, they tend to be stuck with them.
But help is at hand. For those who is keen to learn to swim properly, there is now something
known as the Shaw Method, developed by a former competitive swimmer, Stephen Shaw.
Shaw encouraged people to think about their swimming technique with concentration on
things like breathing correctly.
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