English for Philology.pdf

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF PEDAGOGY

FOREIGN LANGUAGE SECTION

ENGLISH

For PHILOLOGY

Compiled by:

NGUYEN THI BICH THUY - MA.

HoChiMinh City, 2003.

PREFACE

The aim of this book is to help both the students of Philology faculty and those

who are interested in linguistics literature.

We would like to thank all those whose sources have been used in this book.

We are grateful too, to teachers, colleagues and students for their guidance in

the preparation of this book.

There are certainly short comings in the book we are ourselves responsible for.

We hope we will get more valuable comments and suggestions from the

concerned in order to improve the quality of the book.

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2003

Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy

TALKING ABOUT ABILITY

PRESENTATION

Read the passage below.

At the age of sixty-five, Laura Ingalls Wibder could write a series of novels for young

people based on her early experiences on the American frontier. Born in the state of

Wisconsin in 1867, she and her family were rugged pioneers seeking better farm land,

they could go by covered wagon to Missouri in 1869, then on to Kansas the next year.

They returned to Winconsin in 1871 and traveled on to Minnesota and Iowa before they

were able to settle permanently in South Dakota in 1879. Due to this constant moving

Wilder’s early education could take place in a succession of one-room schools. From age

thirteen to sixteen, she could attend school more regularly although she never graduated.

Although her novels were written many years ago, young generation loves them very

much. They can understand her life and her ideas through her stories.

Grammar questions

1. Look at these sentences and find out what verbs are used in the underlined words.

They can understand her life and her ideas through her stories.

- “At the age of 65, Laura Ingalls Wilder could write a series of novels for young

people”.

- “They traveled on to Minnesota and Iowa before they were able to settle

permanently in South Dakota in 1879”.

- “From age thirteen to sixteen she could attend school more regularly, although

she never graduated.

2. Rule: We use _____________ + __________ to talk about present ability to do

something.

We use _____________ + __________ to talk about past ability to do

something.

PRACTICE

A. Work in pairs. Ask and answer the following questions:

1. How many languages can you speak?

2. Could you speak English when you were 6?

3. Can you compose a poem?

4. Can you read a novel all day?

5. How do people communicate?

6. Can you record what you say and think?

7. Can you communicate through time? Why or why not?

- Think of a many questions as you can about communication.

B. Complete these sentences using can , can’t , could or couldn’t and the verb in brackets.

1. I am a student of Philology faculty. I ________ (compose) a poem.

2. When I was ten years old. I ________ (read) a short story in English. I learned

English when I was seven years old.

3. I don’t want to read this book. I _________(study) Chinese)

4. She ________ (drive) until she went for lessons last year.

5. My grandmother was Chinese, so she _______ (use) chopsticks.

6. My sister _______ (speak) German and French.

7. My brother ______ (talk) to foreigners when he was only six years old.

8. My father is slightly deaf. He ________ (hear) very well.

C. Jane and Joan are friends but each one always wants to be better than the other at

everything. Complete their conversation using can, could or be able to. Follow the

example.

1. Jane : I could read when I was only four years old.

Joan : Well, I could read when I was three!

2. Jane : I _____________ speak three languages.

Joan : That’s nothing! I ____________speak five languages.

3. Jane : Last week, with my savings, I ____________ buy myself a pony.

Joan : Really? Well, last week I _______________ buy a racing horse.

4. Jane : The garden of my house is so big that I _____________ walk to the end of

it.

Joan : That sounds rather small. The garden of my house is so big that I

___________ drive to the end of it in a car.

5. Jane : I _________ play the piano and the violin.

Joan : Is that all? I ____________ play the piano, the violin, the flute and the

trumpet.

6. Jane : When I was at school I ___________ read a whole book in a day.

Joan : How slow. When I was at school I _________ write a whole book in a

day.

7. Jane : Last year, I got so many presents on my birthday that I ____________ fit

them all in one room.

Joan : What a shame. Last year, I got so many presents on my birthday that I

__________ fit them all in my house – I had to rent the house next door

too!

8. Jane : I’m very fit. I_________ run a mile in less than four minutes.

Joan : Well, I ___________run a mile in less than four minutes – backwards !

Language review

1. Can is used to talk about the ability to do something. As with most modal verbs,

we use can with the infinitive without to of the verb:

I can speak two languages.

The negative is cannot or can’t :

Where’s the foreign language centre of HCM city university of Pedagogy? I can’t

find it.

In questions using can , we do not use do , but we reverse the order of can and the

subject.

Can you speak Japanese?

2. The past form of can is could . The negative of could is could not (couldn’t):

When I was young, I could speak English quite well.

Before this year, I couldn’t compose any poems.

We use could to say that someone had a general ability in the past.

Could you read a novel all day?

We do not use could to talk about individual situations. For individual situations we

have to use was/were able to:

He could speak French. When we got lost in Paris he was able to ask for directions.

However, we can use the negative form of could in both general and individual

situations.

He couldn’t translate the story into English because he lost the dictionary.

3. Can and could do not have other form such as infinitives or participles. If we need

to use these forms, we must use be able to am/are able to, was/were able to, etc)

instead of can and could :

I might be able to tell you about the main branches of linguistics.

They have been able to tell about problems of syllables and morphemes in

Vietnamese.

VOCABULARY

Match a term in A with a phrase in B :

descriptive

1. the branch of linguistics that deals with how languages

change, what kinds of changes occur, and why they occur.

grammar

computational

2. a linguist’s description or model of the mental grammar,

the units, structures and rules of speakers of a particular

language. The attempt to state what speakers unconsciously

know about their language.

linguistics

c. grammar

3. the system of language, including its phonology,

morphology, syntax, semantics, and lexicon. The linguistic

knowledge of a speaker of a language.

comparative

4. a subfield of linguistics and computer science that is

concerned with computer processing of human language.

linguistics

e. psycholinguistics

5. linguistic units composed of several sentences.

historical

6. the branch of linguistics concerned with linguistic

performance, language acquisition, and speech production

and comprehension.

linguistics

discourse

7. the branch of linguistics that deals with language change

by comparing related languages.

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