SECTION C : CONSTRUCTING PARAGRAPHS

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Essay Questions

1. Indicate whether the underlined sentences in the following passage are major claims [MjC], minor claims [MnC], or transitions [T].

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One of the more difficult decisions that face people is what kind of car to buy . They have to determine whether they want a car that is economical, spacious, or fast and stylish . But buying a car is not just a factor determined by these three factors . Other factors that come into play are the cost of the car and whether the car is going to be used mainly in the city or in the country . City cars need to be easy to maneuver and park . Highway cars, in contrast, need to be quiet at high speed and comfortable for longer rides .

2. Indicate whether the underlined transitions in the following passage are used to add more material [A], give an example [Ex], indicate clarification [C], or indicate sequence [S].

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Buying equipment to play movies at home has become more complex recently. Until the advent of DVD players, VCR machines had the market to themselves. Now , with DVD players, consumers have to ask, for instance, whether they want a machine just to watch movies on or whether they also want a machine that can record a four-hour programme. Before they go to a store, consumers should first get a sense of how much they want to pay for the machine they are going to buy. As well , they should decide what features they want on that machine. For instance , if they just want a machine on which they can tape weekly sports events and watch the odd movie, and they are not concerned with whether it has such features as high-fi, stereo sound, commercial-skip capability, and VCR-plus programming, they will be looking at a less expensive VCR. Simply put , a DVD will not figure into their decision.

3. Indicate whether the underlined transitions in the following passage are used to emphasize or focus [E-F], to compare [Com], to contrast [Con], or to indicate concession [Cons].

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When students think of English courses, they anticipate not only having to read prose and poetry but also having to write essays. In particular , they realize they will have to be very careful about how they write. In contrast to instructors in the Social Sciences, English instructors take expression and mechanics into consideration much more fully when assigning a grade. Similar to modern language instructors, English instructors look carefully at how students expresses themselves. Of course , writing an essay for an English course will make students more sensitive to language use and more careful in their expression. It may be harder work writing an essay for an English course, but the process should make students more acutely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of their writing.

4. Indicate whether the underlined transitions in the following passage are used to give an example [Ex], to contrast [Con], to indicate time [T], to indicate place or direction [P-D], to indicate cause and effect [C-E], or to repeat, summarize, or conclude [R-S-C].

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If you are planning a holiday in Canada, you must take into consideration a number of factors. First , you should plan to have adequate time to travel to your destination. Travelling from one part of Canada to another can take a fair amount of time. If, for instance , you want to go to Niagara Falls, you might want to consider what else you want to include in your holiday besides the falls themselves. Close to Niagara is the Shaw Festival and not that far north of the falls is Stratford, home to an acclaimed Shakespeare festival. However, just because you studied Shakespeare in high school is no guarantee that you would want to go to a Shakespeare festival. Instead , you might want to visit some of the wineries of the Niagara escarpment or look for antiques in the countryside or at country auctions. In summary , before you go on holiday, think about what you are interested in and what kind of activities you find refreshing. After all , a holiday should leave you relaxed and refreshed, not exhausted and frustrated.

5. Indicate whether the underlined sentences in the following passage are Level 1 [1] (coordinate), Level 2 [2] (subordinate), or Level 3 (3) (subordinate to a subordinate level-two structure).

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When Canadians look at the modern Bay department stores across Canada, they do not think about how much the Hudson's Bay Company's growth and development influenced and moulded the development and growth of Canada . While sending Europeans across the country in search of furs, the Hudson's Bay Company established a social hierarchy in the land . As John Buchan, the Governor General of Canada during the 1930s, noted, "the Hudson's Bay is not an ordinary commercial company, but a kind of kingdom by itself, and it needs statesmen to administer it ." But the longevity and success of HBC was not just in the ruling elite that started it as "the Company of Adventurers" who received a charter in 1670 to be "true Lordes and Proprietors ." The backbone of the company was in the many adventurous young men, traders, and explorers who worked for the company and moved out from company headquarters at York Factory across the land in search of fame and fortune . Today, as the oldest commercial enterprise continuously in existence, we forget how the company was responsible for much of the early European incursion into Canada, and how its policies and trade goods made an indelible mark on the country as familiar as the Hudson's Bay blanket itself .

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