Reading Unit 3

SIGNALS, SIGNS AND SYMBOLS

Read the text carefully

Although speech is the most advanced form of communication, there
are many ways of communicating without using speech. Signals, sign,
symbols, and gestures may be found in every known culture. The basic
function of a signal is to impinge upon the environment in such a way that it
attracts attention, as for example, the dots and dashes of a telegraph circuit.
Coded to refer to speech, the potential for communication is very great. Less
adaptable to the codification of words, signs also contain meaning in and of
themselves. A stop sign or a barber pole conveys meaning quickly and
conveniently. Symbols are more difficult to describe than either signals or
signs because of their intricate relationship with the receiver cultural
perceptions. In some cultures, applauding in a theatre provides performers
with an auditory symbol of approval. Gestures such as waving and
handshaking also communicate certain cultural messages.
Although signals, signs, symbols, and gestures are very useful, they do
have a major disadvantage. They usually do not allow ideas to be shared
without the sender being directly adjacent to the receiver. As a result, means
of communication intended to be used for long distances and extended
periods are based upon speech. Radio, television, and the telephone are only
a few.

Exercise 1.
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Signs, Signals, and Symbols

Gestures
Communication
Speech

What does the author say about speech?

a.
b.
c.
d.

That it is the only true form of communication

That it is dependent upon the advances made by inventors
That it is necessary for communication to occur
That it is the most advanced form of communication

According to the passage, what is signal?

a.
b.
c.
d.

The most difficult form of communication to describe

A form of communication which may be used across long distances
A form of communication that interrupts the environment
The form of communication most related to cultural perceptions

Exercise 1.
Applauding was cited as an example of
a.
b.
c.
d.

A signal
A sign
A symbol
A gesture

Why were telephone, radio and TV invented?

a.

b.
c.
d.

Because people were unable to understand sign, symbols, and

signals
Because people wanted to communicate across long distances
Because people believed that signs, signals, and symbols were
obsolete
Because people wanted new forms of entertainment

It may be concluded from this passage that

a.
b.
c.
d.

Signals, signs, and gestures are forms of communication

Symbols are very easy to define and interpret
Only some cultures have signals, signs, and symbols
Waving and handshaking are not related to culture

Writing: Summarizing

Writing: Summarizing
What is summary?
A summary is a shortened version of a longer reading that tells the basic ideas
of the reading.

How to summarize?
To be able to summarize properly, you will need
1. Understand the reading material
2. Identify main ideas, write down in a note
3. Close the reading, then
4. Write only view sentences, use your own words and key words
from the reading
5. Do not include your opinion or how you feel about the topic.

About 4.5 billion Why

years ago,
Earthahad
a bad day. The sun was
wethehave
moon?
David H.had
Levy no oceans yet and no life,
shining on our young world, By
which
but a surface filled with erupting volcanoes. The sky was awash
with stars , though not the ones we see now. But the familiar
planets were there Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and another
planet the size of Mars but much closer.
Had we been alive back then, we would have noticed this other
planet looping again and again around the Sun in an odd orbit that
brought it very close to the Earth, then farther away. On this day,
that odd planet, approaching us again, became brighter than ever
before, filling the sky and getting bigger by the minute, its
gravitational pull now so great that rocks began to stretch and
rumble. Then, with unimaginable energy and deafening noise, it
sideswiped the Earth, bounced off and, seconds later, tore right
back into our planet with a super colossal force.

Why we have a moon?

By David H. Levy

Sample summary
Levy explains how 4.5 billion years ago, a large planet, located
close to the Earth, violently collided with the Earth.

Summarizing

Do step 1, 2, and 3 of summarizing in each paragraph of the passage!

Although speech is the most advanced form of communication, there are
many ways of communicating without using speech. Signals, sign, symbols, and
gestures may be found in every known culture. The basic function of a signal is
to impinge upon the environment in such a way that it attracts attention, as for
example, the dots and dashes of a telegraph circuit. Coded to refer to speech,
the potential for communication is very great. Less adaptable to the codification
of words, signs also contain meaning in and of themselves. A stop sign or a
barber pole conveys meaning quickly and conveniently. Symbols are more
difficult to describe than either signals or signs because of their intricate
relationship with the receiver cultural perceptions. In some cultures, applauding
in a theatre provides performers with an auditory symbol of approval. Gestures
such as waving and handshaking also communicate certain cultural messages.
Although signals, signs, symbols, and gestures are very useful, they do have
a major disadvantage. They usually do not allow ideas to be shared without the
sender being directly adjacent to the receiver. As a result, means of
communication intended to be used for long distances and extended periods are
based upon speech. Radio, television, and the telephone are only a few.

Speech is not the only way to communicate.

People also use other methods, i.e. using signals,
signs, symbols, and gesture. Signals are coded
based on speech using unusual ways to attract
attention. Signs are inflexible than signals with
specific meaning. Whereas, symbols usually have
more complex meaning due to the culture.
However, signals, signs, and symbols can not be
transferred for long distance, thus,
telecommunication still uses speech.

Explaining how technology works

Ref.: Ibbotson, M. Cambridge English for
Engineering. Cambridge University Press. 2008

Space elevator: preparing for takeoff

In pairs, look at the picture and
discuss the following questions.
a. How do you think a space
elevator would work?
b. What could it be used for?
c. What technical challenges
would it face?
d. How seriously do you think
this concept of space
elevators is being taken at
present?

In his 1979 novel, The Fountains of Paradise, Arthur C Clarke wrote

about an elevator connecting the Earths surface to space. Three decades
later, this science-fiction concept is preparing to take off in the real world.
NASA has launched the Space Elevator Challenge, a competition with a
generous prize fund, and several teams and companies are working on
serious research projects aimed at winning it.
As its name suggests, a space elevator is designed to raise things into
space. Satellites, components for space ships, supplies for astronauts in
space stations, and even astronauts themselves are example of payloads
that could be transported into orbit without the need for explosive and
environmentally unfriendly rockets. However, the altitude of orbital spacea colossal 35,790km above the Earth-is a measure of the challenge facing
engineers. How could such a height be reached?
The answer is by using an incredibly strong and lightweight cable,
strong enough to support its own weight and a heavy load. The design of
such a cable is still largely theoretical. This would be attached to a base
station on Earth at one end and a satellite in geostationary orbit (fixed
above a point on the equator) at the other. Lift vehicles would then
ascend and descend the cable, powered by electromagnetic force and
controlled remotely.

Listening (1)

Listening (2)

conventional
Conventional, eliminates, superior, energy-efficient, enhanced, reduces