Lesson 02 - Describing a Process

Introduction

In the first lesson you were introduced to a (particular) reading skill. Can you
remember what it is? It is scanning. Scanning means finding specific information you
want from a lot of additional information.

In this lesson you are going to develop further the skill of finding wanted information
by reading fast.

2.1 Looking for specific information through reading

While looking for specific information the key words in the passage will help you.
If you are finding answers to questions the question word will also help you.

Did you find the answers? I am sure it was very easy.
Did you check the time you took and did you read every word in the passage to find the
answers?
You need not.
Now let’s see how you can find the answers faster without trying to read every word in
the passage...
The first question starts with when. So the answer should be a date, year or time.
Thus you have to read only the years mentioned in the passage. The next clues are
Chaplin and Born. So you have to read only the first sentence to spot these two words
and find the year -1889
Question number 2 begins with what. What usually refers to a thing? Thus in the
passage you search for the names of the films given in paragraph two. It is easy to find
as names begins with Capital letters. The next clue is 1931. So the answer is City
Lights as it was produced in 1931.
Question number 3 begins with where. So it should be a place. So you look for 1952
and a name of a place. Now there are two places. – United States and Switzerland.
But the answer is Switzerland as the other clues is live. He left the United States but
lived in Switzerland.
Question number 4 begins with how often. That means the answer should state a
number. The other clue is the verb married. So you can easily find married four times.
The question for which the answer is not in the text is Question 5 as the year 1936 is
not mentioned in the passage.
I am sure all your answers are correct. But if you followed these techniques you would
have found the answers in a lesser time.
So when you read a text book to find specific information follow these techniques of
scanning.
Now here is another passage for you to read and find specific information.

Grammar Focus

In lesson 1 you learnt the simple present tense. Can you identify the simple present
tense verbs in the following paragraph?

Saman’s father comes home every day as the sun sets in the evening. As he enters the
house Saman runs to him excitedly. His father always brings him a chocolate. They eat
the chocolate after dinner.

Did you find the verbs? I am sure you did. They are:
comes, sets, enters, runs, brings, eat.

Now read the next paragraph and identify the verbs.
The sun is setting. The excitement among the crowds is increasing. The participants in

the perahera are taking their positions in the temple. Every one is awaiting the
commencement of the perahera.

Did you identify the verbs? They are
is setting
are taking
is awaiting

Did you see a difference in the verbs in this paragraph and the previous paragraph?
Yes. These verbs are different as this paragraph is written in the present continuous
tense.

The present continuous tense is used to describe an action that is happening at or
around the time of speaking. The action is not finished.
In the above paragraph the actions are not finished. Therefore the present continuous
tense is used.
Unlike the present tense to form the present continuous tense we need the help of the
verb ‘be’ . Verb be consists of ‘am, is and are’
Verb be + verb + ing
Let’s see how the present continuous tense is formed.