Unit A - Use of English

Question 1

How many words should sentences be on average?

Answer 1

15 to 20.

Question 2

Why is it important to make things easy to read?

Answer 2

Because the reader is under no obligation to read it - has to be easily absorbable from anywhere.

Question 3

What are the dangers of using the passive voice?

Answer 3

1. Longer sentence - does not get to the point.

2. Have to wait until the end of the sentence for the topic.

Question 4

When is it acceptable to use the passive voice?

Answer 4

1. When we don’t know who the actor is.
2. When we know who the actor is but we wish to avoid blame.
3. When the action, or person acted upon, is more important than the actor.

Question 5

What is the active voice?

Answer 5

Actor + action = active.

Question 6

What is the passive voice?

Answer 6

Object of action, then action, then actor = passive.

Question 7

Why should we use details rather than generalities?

Answer 7

Because details provide a vivid, memorable picture of the story. Generalities are not clear.

Question 8

What are the three ways to be brief when writing?

Answer 8

1. Leave something out (trivial or irrelevant points)
2. Write more tightly (no passenger words and phrases)
3. Do both.

Question 9

What can be a cause of unclear writing?

Answer 9

Ambiguity.

Question 10

How can double meaning be resolved? (three points)

Answer 10

1. Rewording sentence
2. Using same words in a different order
3. Adding punctuation

Question 11

What is done to sentences that are too long?

Answer 11

Cut into two or three.

Question 12

What is the stance on pronouns?

Answer 12

Should be clear to whom they refer.

Question 13

What do prepositions signal and how should they be used?

Answer 13

Signal an additional idea and so must be used sparingly.

Question 14

What does the ease of reading also depend upon?

Answer 14

Length of individual words.

Question 15

The use of which two words can help avoid confusion?

Answer 15

‘Even’ and ‘only’

Question 16

What is the stance on jargon and why?

Answer 16

Do not use. Meaningless to non-specialists.

Question 17

What is the stance on technical terms?

Answer 17

Avoid or explain. Can add flavour to features but need to check if others understand.

Question 18

What is the stance on buzzwords?

Answer 18

Fashionable but quickly become subject of parody. Use while they’re hot if you must but drop them quickly.

Question 19

What is the stance on clichés, automatic adjectives, automatic verbs, and tautologies?

Answer 19

Always avoid.

Question 20

What is the stance on puns?

Answer 20

Depends on editor. Avoid for internet publications as lacks SEO, aim for clever play on words, ideally should be fresh and original.

Question 21

What is the stance on ‘tragedy’?

Answer 21

Don’t overdo it.

Question 22

What is the significance of age?

Answer 22

It can contribute a lot to a story, illustrates it more, gives it more life.

Question 23

What is wrong with adjectives such as ‘pretty’, ‘attractive’, ‘old’, etc?

Answer 23

They are subjective.

Question 24

How are the words ‘youth’, ‘boy’, ‘girl’, and ‘teenager’ used?

Answer 24

Depends on story. About a boy band visit, 13-19 year-olds are teenagers. In court, youths and girls from 15 to 18. After 18, men and women. ‘Boy’ up to and including 14.

Question 25

How old does a person have to be to use the word ‘elderly’?

Answer 25

70.

Question 26

What should you avoid when writing sentences?

Answer 26

Inverted passages.

Question 27

What are paragraph divisions usually based on in news reporting?

Answer 27

Typographical appearance or the way it sounds when read aloud.

Question 28

Why should you avoid long paragraphs?

Answer 28

They are harder to read in newspapers or online and may cause the reader to stop reading.

Question 29

What are the outside limits for paragraph length?

Answer 29

30 words for intro, 50 words for other pars.

Question 30

What is the advantage of shorter paragraphs?

Answer 30

They aid reading online.