Unit 4: Communication Activties

I. Problem Solving (in pairs)

Select several of the problems below, then discuss how you would solve them.

(A) You are not doing well in a class. (B) You want to save enough money to travel to Europe after graduation. (C) Your parents won't let you date the person you like. (D) The air in your hometown is becoming more dirty. (E) Taiwan is full of trash and garbage. (F) The food on campus tastes bad. (G) Other: ______________________________

II. Library Basics: The Dewey Decimal System

Many small and mid-size libraries use a system to classify books based on a decimal system developed by John Dewey. Look at the Dewey decimal numbers on the left and the titles of the books on the right, then give the books an approximate number.

Discuss with your partner what you think the book is about

000   General fields and computer science

100   Philosophy

200   Religion

300   Social Science, law, economics, communications

400   Languages and dictionaries

500   Science,weather, animals

600   Technology, careers

700   Art, music, movies, sports

800   Literature

900   Geography, travel, history

EXAMPLE: Bacci, Massimo. (trans. Carl Ipsen). A Concise History of World Population. (1997) London: Blackwell Pub.

Student A:   What do you think this book is about?
Student B:   Probably something about population. What do you think?
Student A:   That seems right. Where do you think it belongs?
Student B:   Well, probably in the "300" area - it is about social sciences. What do you think?
Student A:   I'm not sure. Mat in the "900" area - it is about history, too.
Student B:   We will need to check more.

1. Cooper, Barry. Beethoven and the Creative Process. (1992). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
2. Daniels, David. (with Daniels, Barbara J.) English Grammar. (1991). New York: Harper Pernnial
3. Desmaison, Chistopher, Learn French The Lazy Way. (1999). New York: Macmillan.
4. Reichard, Kevin. Unix Shareware and Freeware. (1994). MIS-Press.
5. Robertson, John. Elvis Presley: The Complete Guide. (1994). Omnibus Press.

III. Which Book is Right?

Which reference book would you use to solve the following problems?

REFERENCE BOOKS

Encyclopedia Brittanica
Guiness World Records
Job Finders Almanac
The Internet Yellow Pages
The New York Times 1999 Almanac
Websters Dictionary

PROBLEMS

You need to know the year Beethoven was born and died.
You need to know where you can FTP some Windows freeware.
You have an English grammar problem.
You want to know how to say, "I love you" in French.
You want to know what the US$ / NT$ exchange rate was in 1990.



Optional Homework: Information Trek.

See if you can answer the following ten questions, using information available in the Ming Chuan Library and/or information via the Internet.

1. How many records did Elvis Presley make?
   
2. What was the 1990 population of Washington D.C.?
   
3. Who was the prime minister of Great Britain 100 years ago?
   
4. How many people die of AIDs each year?
   
5. How much money did Taiwan spend on defense in 1995?
   
6. When did the world's population reach one billion?
   
7. What is the capital of Hungary?
   
8. When was the first Sherlock Holmes novel written?
   
9. Who won the Nobel Peace Prize ten years ago?
   

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- Practical English 6 -
UNIT 1 * UNIT 2 * UNIT 3 * UNIT 4 * UNIT 5 * UNIT 6 * UNIT 7 * UNIT 8

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copyright (c) 1999 by Ming Chuan Universal
Ver. 2.1 - Updated 1 Nov. 1999
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