大学英语SPEAKING Reading Exercises

READING TRACK EXERCISES

1.1: Think about the parts of these words, and write the word class and meaning in English or Japanese.

a.respeak verb I think this word means to say something again .

b.thoughtful ______________________________________________________________

c.transoceanic ______________________________________________________________

d.repeater ______________________________________________________________

e.demotivate ______________________________________________________________

f.systemize ______________________________________________________________

g.tireless ______________________________________________________________

h.purify ______________________________________________________________

i.manageable ______________________________________________________________

j.interfaith ______________________________________________________________

k.uncooked ______________________________________________________________

1.2: Circle the correct word class and think about whether it’s positive or negative. Don’t use a dictionary.

ex. Sam was exuberant because he managed to pass the exam.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

a.Mrs Brown saw the room was dirty, so she became livid.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

b.I don’t care about small mistakes, but this mistake was so egregious that I have to do something.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

c.Fred thought he performed well. Furthermore, numerous people in the audience called his performance

superlative.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

d.Heidi thinks she’s inferior to other people and has no confidence in herself.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

e.The divorce was really acrimonious. In fact, the husband and wife had come to hate each other.

noun/verb/adjective/adverb

positive/negative

1.3: Read this dictionary entry and answer the questions by writing a check ( ) by the correct answer.

a.Please complete this form.

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ?n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

b.He won because he was in excellent form.

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

c.Did you learn those irregular verb forms?

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

d. A circle is a form.

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

e.Perhaps there is some form of life on the moon.

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

f.“Beautiful” is a form of “beauty.”

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

g.Not watching television is a form of punishment for children.

___ n.1 ___ n.2 ___ n.3 ___n.4 ___n.5

h.He formed a fist with his left hand.

___ vt.1 ___vt.2 ___vi

i.The storm formed over the Atlantic Ocean.

___ vt.1 ___vt.2 ___vi

j.The children formed a circle to play a game.

___ vt.1 ___vt.2 ___vi

k.I think that the team formed in 1970.

___ vt.1 ___vt.2 ___vi

l.We should form an organization for the parents of the children in this school.

___ vt.1 ___vt.2 ___vi

2.1: Answer the following questions about your book.

a)What book did you read?

b)How did you feel about the book? Why?

c)Were there some words you didn’t know in the book? How did you find out their meaning?

Please write the word, and then check (?) the appropriate box. Add more rows if you need.

3.1: Read the following text and make questions and guesses about the content. When you think of a question, write a number in the text at the appropriate point and then write your question/guess next to that number below. Please add as many numbers as you need.

THE POWER OF LIGHTNING1

“Quick!It’s stormy outside! Maybe there will be thunder and lightning! Get the kite, and let’s go fly it in the storm!”

Imagine hearing these words from your father. You might think going out to play in a storm is fun, or you might think it is scary, or maybe you will think that your father has lost his mind. As a responsible adult, you will think a father who says this is out of his mind. Why would he do such a thing?! If he’s not crazy, what would motivate a man to go fly a kite in a storm?

But there is one possible answer. Curiosity! Maybe the father had a serious question that he wanted to ask. Maybe he just had to know something. And this is exactly what happened in real life. This father, Benjamin Franklin, wanted to know something about lightning.

And when he wanted to know something, Ben Franklin asked questions. He was a curious man. That is the way that he came to know so many things. He knew how to ask questions about everything. By flying a kite in a storm, he was asking a question. And the storm clouds and lightning gave him an answer.

Before the time of Franklin, people did not know what lightning was. They did not know what made the thunder. Franklin thought much about it, and he came up with a question. His question was simple. Is lightning the same as electricity?

Then one day he decided to catch a little bit of lightning. Perhaps he could put it into a bottle that was used to hold electricity. (These bottles were called Leyden Jars.) If the lightning behaved like electricity, he would know the answer to his question. But catching lightning is not easy. So how do you think he did it? Now you see the reason for the kite.

1.Do I understand what lightning means? No, but I think it will be explained in the text.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

4.1: Please think about the book you read, and answer the following questions.

a)What book did you read?

b)How did you feel about the book? Why?

c)Were there some words you didn’t know in the book? How did you find out their meaning?

d)Circle the appropriate word.

5.1: Click on ONE of the following links, and try the quiz. When you finish, write your score on the line. You might need to use a dictionary for this.

https://www.360docs.net/doc/017789326.html,/text-structure-worksheets/text-structure-practice-1.htm

https://www.360docs.net/doc/017789326.html,/text-structure-worksheets/text-structure-practice-2.htm

https://www.360docs.net/doc/017789326.html,/text-structure-worksheets/text-structure-practice-3.htm

YOUR SCORE: _______%

6.1 Please think about the book you read, and answer the following questions.

a)What book did you read?

b)How did you feel about the book? Why?

c)Were there some words you didn’t know in the book? How did you find out their meaning?

e)Circle the text structures you noticed in the book.

LISTS TIME ORDER SPACES

COMPARE & CONTRAST CAUSE & EFFECT PROBLEM & SOLUTION

7.1: Please read the text below and then write a short summary for each paragraph. You can write your summary in English or Japanese.

more likely to contract certain illnesses because of the food that is commonly eaten in these

cultures.

That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers

realized that chemicals commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused

cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the

time to know which things on food labels of processed food are harmful. Furthermore, the additives

that we eat are not all direct. Many farmers give penicillin to cows and chickens, and so penicillin has SUMMARY:

Please think about the book you read, and answer the following questions.

a)What book did you read?

b)How did you feel about the book? Why?

c)Were there some words you didn’t know in the book? How did you find out their meaning?

d)Circle the appropriate word.

e)Circle the text structures you noticed in the book.

LISTS TIME ORDER SPACES

COMPARE & CONTRAST CAUSE & EFFECT PROBLEM & SOLUTION

f)Circle the appropriate word

1.Did you try to summarize parts of the book? YES NO

2.How often did you summarize parts of the book? OFTEN SOMETIMES RARELY NEVER

3.Did you find summarizing helpful? YES NO