Module 3 Unit 1 Sharpening Your Thinking Skills: Eng100 English Enhancement Course
Module 3 Unit 1 Sharpening Your Thinking Skills: Eng100 English Enhancement Course
Module 3 Unit 1 Sharpening Your Thinking Skills: Eng100 English Enhancement Course
MODULE 3 UNIT 1
SHARPENING YOUR THINKING SKILLS
At the end of the unit, you should:
1. make inferences and conclusions after analyzing reading texts;
2. use pronouns effectively.
NAME: _____________________________________________________________________
Coral Reefs
There are three types of coral reefs: fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls. The fringing
reef is found along the shore. There is normally a shallow lagoon, sometimes only half a meter
deep, between the fringing reef and the shore. The second type of reef, the barrier reef, is often
found offshore. It is the farthest from the shore and it makes a wall between the water near the
shore and the deep sea. A barrier reef can be as long as 1,500 kilometers. The atoll is the third
type of reef. It is a circular reef that usually encloses a lagoon. An atoll is normally found farther
from shore than the fringing reef, but closer to the shore than the barrier reef.
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EXERCISE 3. Directions. Read the sentences below. Circle the letter of the sentence that best
sums up the main idea.
1. The Red Sea is in some ways a very special sea. For one thing, it is sometimes red. Several
suggestions have been suggested to explain this. One suggestion is that sunlight is reflected
from the mountains on the sea. This seems possible but we know that it isn’t true. The real
reason is that lots of very small animals sometimes rise to the surface of the sea during the
day. They are red in color and make the water look red.
2. The Red Sea is special because it is enclosed. It is almost like a huge lake. Only a little water
enters it from the Suez Canal in the north and the Gulf of Aden in the south. The area is very
hot and dry, so a lot of water evaporates. As a result, the Red Sea is slowly becoming more
salty. In fact, it is one of the saltiest seas in the world.
a. The Red Sea becomes salty because it is enclosed like a huge lake.
b. Two bodies of water – the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden – feed water to the Red Sea.
c. The Red Sea is the saltiest sea in the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Aden.
d. Since only a small amount of water goes to the Red Sea, it is very hot and dry causing
rapid evaporation and turning the water saltier.
3. In addition, the Red Sea is one of the few areas in the world where there are coral reefs. Coral
reefs are beautiful and dangerous places. They are built by millions of very microscopic
animals.
a. There are only a few coral reefs found in the Red Sea.
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b. Millions of very small animals make up the coral reefs that abound in the Red Sea.
c. Millions of coral reefs abound in the Red Sea.
d. The Red Sea is beautiful but it is a very dangerous place.
4. In these reefs, there are many fishes and plants. Some of them are very dangerous. About 20%
of all the fishes and plants in the Red Sea aren’t found anywhere else in the world.
a. The Red Sea is home to some of the rarest species of plants and fishes.
b. Most fishes and plants in the Red Sea are life-threatening.
c. About 20% of all dangerous fishes and plants in the world can be found in the Red Sea.
d. Coral reefs are breeding places for plants.
5. At the present, the Red Sea is not polluted. It is hoped that it would never become polluted.
Conservationists all over the world help to preserve this body of water.
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that substitutes for a noun and helps a writer avoid unpleasant repetition.
A pronoun often functions as the subject of the sentence: I, you, he, she, it, we, they. It can also
function as direct object or object of the preposition: me, you, him, her, it, us, them. Pronouns
can also show possession or ownership: my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, its, our, ours, their,
theirs. The first group of pronouns are in the nominative case; the second in the objective case;
and the last in the possessive case.
EXERCISE 3. Directions. Underline the pronoun that will complete the sentence best.
Example: It is (our, ours) responsibility to refrain from throwing trash into the sea.
2. We will ask (they, them) to clean the debris from the sea in the north side of the lake.
3. (She, Her) needs to dive into the sea to pick up the litter.
5. This land is (your, yours); from now on, you will have to take care of it.
6. (My, Mine) view is that illegal fishing should be stopped to protect our seas.
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8. Aside from (we, us) members of pro-environment groups, nobody cares about cyanide
fishing.
9. Greenpeace activists boarded (them, their) boat due to its cargo of toxic waste.
3. Learning how to swim is easier for (we, us) who live in the tropics.
4. In the last boat race, the Filipino navy men rowed faster than (they, them).
7. (We, Us) launched a turtle conservation patrol along the shore communities of Batangas.
8. (Their, Theirs) program to seed the sea with giant clams was a success.
9. Saving the seas today will be for the future generation, for (they, them).
10. It was (she, her) who introduced the environment-friendly fishing method.
Reflexive Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns are personal intensifiers with the word -self added. They are used
to express an action that goes back to the subject, as in:
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1. The marine biologists planted the giant clams on the ocean floor _____________.
3. Lyda and the student researchers ____________ visited the area where the oil spill occurred.
4. Francesca will prepare the brochure about the marine creature ______________.
5. The gentle whale hurt _____________ when it got caught in the fisherman’s net.
7. You have taken the duty to guard the endangered coral reef ______________.
9. We have nobody to blame but _____________ for the diminishing fish catch.
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