English Class (Week 1)

Summary of Social Conversation Class:

Lessson: A telephone enquiry

1. Hold the line please = Wait a moment please
2. I'll put you through = I'll connect you to ...
3. But I can put you down for the next course if you like = write your details
4. I'm sorry, that course is already under way for this term = in progress
5. I'll just check for you but as a rule of thumb the cut off date for joining ... = general rule / dateline
6. There's the off chance that someone may pull out = small chance / withdraw
7. ...there's a lot of red tape involved and it's still up in the air so I wouldn't count on it = official rules / still undecided
8. Places usually get snapped up as soon ... = get accepted quickly
9. I'm sure you don't want to miss the boat again = lose the opporunity
10. I didn't catch that = I didn't hear/understand that

Summary of Writing for Research Class:

Task: Choose a verb that reduces the informality of the sentence.

1. ... are mainly brought on by overeating, a lack of exercise, and ciggarate smoking. (caused)
2. Scientist are looking into innovative ways to combat AIDS. (investigating)
3. The purpose of this paper is to try to figure out what is lacking ... (determine)
4. Researches have recently come up with hybrid vehicles ... (developed)
5. Rice and aquatic products make up a major part of the diet ... (constitute)
6. The use of touch-screen voting systems could get rid of many problems ... (eliminate)
7. Worldwide consumption of pesticides has gone up to 2.6 million metric tones. (reached)
8. Although labor unions in the US have been able to keep up their membership numbers ... (maintain)
9. The number of mature female turtles that return to their primary nesting beach has gone down from 1,280 ten years ago to 145 today. (decreased)
10. The US Defense Threat Agency looks over nearly 15,000 export licence ... (reviewed)

Summary of Grammar for Academic Writing Class:

Lesson: Word Class

1. Articles = a, an, the
2. Conjunction = however, whereas, but ...
3. Noun = man, park, girl friend, tree ...
4. Verb = write, read, run, walk ...
5. Adjectives = big, small, large, old ...
6. Adverb = badly, dramatically, quickly ...
7. Prepositions = in, on, at ..
8. Interjection = "Oh!, Wow..."
9. Punctuation = Commas, full stop ...