学术英语 理工 Academic English for Science and Engineering Unit 2 Searching for Information Unit Contents 1 Finding reliable and better sources 2 Scanning and skimming 3 Identifying topic sentences for information 4 Guessing word meaning 5 Using the organization of the text 6 Reading critically 7 Taking notes 8 Writing a summary 1 Finding reliable and better sources To evaluate source materials Tasks Unit 2 Searching for Information 1 Finding reliable and better sources To evaluate source materials l Is the material a primary or a secondary source l Is the source the latest one l Is the author a reliable scholar or an expert in the field l Does the author have biases or prejudices l Has the author been cited frequently in the field l Are the author s arguments supported by evidence such as statistics experiment recent scientific findings l Are different opinions considered and weighed or simply ignored l Are the author s arguments and conclusions convincing Unit 2 Searching for Information 1 Finding reliable and better sources Tasks 1 Check the reliability of the sources on Page 40 2 Search for source materials your paper may use and then write down the titles and sources of the articles The model is given on Page 41 3 Mark the reasons for your choice of the articles Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming Tips for scanning and skimming Task 1 using scanning and skimming strategy Text 5 Can you complete with A I for the Next job Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming Tips for scanning and skimming l keep in mind at all times what you are searching for e g the definition of a term the effect of a phenomenon l search thesis statements and topic sentences in paragraphs for the information you want to gain l use the knowledge of the essay organization such as cause effect comparison contrast problem solution to find what you are looking for l pay attention to signal words such as numbers letters steps the words such as first second and next or words that are bold faced italics or in different sizes fonts etc Scanning Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming Tips for scanning and skimming l the title and subtitles l the abstract if there is one l the introduction and thesis l the first or last paragraphs of the essays chapters l headings and subheadings l the conclusion and summaries l the first sentence or the last sentence of each paragraph l highlighted texts such as words in bold or italic text l graphs tables or diagrams Skimming Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming 1 What does A I in the title stand for Artificial intelligence 2 What is the main idea of the article you may predict from the title 3 What does the story in the first paragraph imply The article may argue for again the idea that Artificial intelligence will replace human jobs in the future The story tells that computerization threatens to replace many white collar jobs Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming 4 What does the last paragraph suggest in terms of the author s attitude The author is optimistic and may not agree that machines will replace human jobs 5 What is the topic sentence of the second paragraph The specter of automation unemploying us all may have finally arrived Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming 6 The key sentence refers to the sentence informing readers of the attitude of the author Can you locate the key sentence s in the first three paragraphs 7 Can you locate the places where the idea of the key sentence is repeated But the mass job shrinkage that these observers all expected did not come Yet Americans as a whole were not automated out of work Para 8 L1 Yet through all that more new jobs appeared Para 11 L2 Unit 2 Searching for Information 2 Scanning and skimming 8 What does the subheading Demands of a new economy tell us Man will not lose jobs because there will always be demands of a new economy 9 What does one of Leinbach s neighbors mean when she wrote about the order of her shoes 10 What does the subheading Saving leads to spending mean The neighbors would prefer to order the shoes from machine handling factories Saving will lead to spending which in turn will create newer perhaps better jobs tomorrow Unit 2 Searching for Information Unit 2 Searching for information l Additional questions for your understanding of Text 5 2 Scanning and skimming 1 What was the virtual end of farming in American history Please explain the declining trend of farming workers in the US The biggest occupational displacement in American history was the virtual end of farming Declining trend Around the time of the Revolution about 90 percent of Americans were involved in farming But as the agricultural industry grew it needed fewer and fewer workers The absolute number of people who worked at farming and ranching hit its peak in about 1910 at around 11 or 12 million and then the number dropped off rapidly Today agriculture provides fewer t