Practice Makes Perfect Advanced ESL Reading and Comprehension (EBOOK)

255 Pages·2013·1.502 MB·English

by  Engelhardt, Diane

PRACTICE
MAKES
PERFECT®
Advanced English
Reading and
Comprehension
Also by Diane Engelhardt
Practice Makes Perfect: Intermediate English Reading and Comprehension
Perfect Phrases for ESL: Conversation Skills
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Contents
Preface vii
1 Ecotourism: Another way to see the world 1
2 The Human Genome Project: Writing the book of life 14
3 Near-death experiences: Fact or fantasy? 29
4 Genetically modified organisms: Breadbasket or
Pandora’s box? 41
5 Men and women: Long live the difference 55
6 Electric cars: Greener, cleaner driving 68
7 DNA fingerprinting: Condemning evidence 82
8 Eco-cities: Building sustainable urban communities 99
9 Solar energy: Power for the future 114
10 Healing circles: A gentler justice 128
11 Medical technology: New frontiers in health care 142
12 The Enneagram: Understanding our personalities 157
13 Artificial Intelligence: Can machines think? 174
14 Voluntary simplicity: Making more out of less 188
15 Future directions: Ecology or technology? 201
Answer key 215
v
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Preface
Practice Makes Perfect: Advanced English Reading and Comprehension contains 15
reading texts based on contemporary subjects. The book is designed to:
◆ Build academic and nonacademic vocabulary
◆ Develop reading comprehension skills at an advanced level
◆ Stimulate creative thought on the subject matter and the problems that each
topic poses to human society
Each chapter is between 1,450 and 1,900 words long and contains the follow-
ing sections:
1. Pre-reading As an introduction to the topic, you can use the questionnaire
provided to interview classmates, colleagues, family, and friends. Column
heads A, B, and C are provided for you to record the answers of each person
you interview. In a brief exercise, you will predict the content of the reading
text.
2. Reading text Following the theme of “think about it,” the texts in this book
cover a broad range of current topics having to do with technology and human
interest. The reading text is followed by a short “After reading” exercise, in
which you will confirm your predictions about the text.
3. Vocabulary Understanding and learning vocabulary can be a daunting task.
In addition to its academic and nonacademic vocabulary, each reading text
contains many other useful words and phrases that may be new to you. Because
not every new word can be included in a vocabulary list or exercise, I encourage
you to use an English language dictionary and to keep an independent vocabu-
lary journal to record new words that are not included in the vocabulary exer-
cises. The vocabulary exercises are broken down as follows:
◆ Thematic vocabulary In this exercise, you will write down 10 words or
phrases that relate to the subject matter of the reading text.
◆ Academic vocabulary Each chapter focuses on 20 academic words (in
boldface type) and 10 nonacademic words (in boldface italic type). The aca-
demic vocabulary comes from the Academic Word List (AWL) developed at
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. The AWL contains the 570
word families that students need to know how to use when studying at the
university level. Here’s an example:
theory (n.), theoretical (adj.), theorize (v.): a set of ideas intended to
explain something
vii
In the academic word exercises, you will be required to write down the noun, verb, or adjec-
tive form of each word and its dictionary definition. In other exercises, you will write down
the part of speech and a dictionary definition.
◆ Using vocabulary You will complete each sentence of these exercises with the correct
word, or form of the word, from the academic word list.
◆ Nonacademic vocabulary You will identify each word’s part of speech and match the
word with its dictionary definition or with a synonym.
4. Reading comprehension This section tests your comprehension of the text under the fol-
lowing headings:
◆ Reading for main ideas
◆ Reading for details
◆ Reading for interpretation and inference
5. Reading strategies In this section, you will practice various techniques that will help you
process what you have read and enable you to take notes, paraphrase, organize information,
and summarize a reading text.
6. Critical thinking It is important not only to understand what you read but also to engage in
critical thinking, that is, to evaluate information in the reading text and relate it to other issues.
An answer key is provided at the end of the book. If specific answers cannot be provided for
some exercises, suggested answers are given where possible.
◆ ◆ ◆
Reading is a great source of knowledge, but—more than providing facts, figures, and a wealth of
information—reading can broaden our minds and make us reflect on issues that affect our lives
and our future. The reading texts in this book were written not only for your skill development,
but also for your pleasure. Read them and share your thoughts!
Acknowledgments
I thank my editor, Holly McGuire, for the opportunity to write this book, and my husband, Erich,
for his considerable support.
viii Preface
PRACTICE
MAKES
PERFECT®
Advanced English
Reading and
Comprehension