Mills Martin. Nexus: Student's Book (English for Advanced Learners)
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UNIT
8
Reading exercises
At ten points in the report
fragments have been removed.
What was in each gap? Cover
the iist of fragments underneath
the article.
Study the list underneath the
article, which contains the
fragments from the article with
live additions. Choose the ten
correct items and match them
to the correct gaps in the
article. Check with your teacher
and fill the gaps in the article.
Check against your answers to
Exercise 1.
3 Discuss the following questions
in groups.
a Why has the newspaper finally
decided to publicise the story?
How do you explain the fact
that such a newsworthy story
has gone unreported for so long?
Do you think such a state of
affairs could exist in a non-
communist country?
Do you think such things will be
allowed to continue in the
USSR?
Soviet exposure
who tried to expose Adilov's
pocket empire simply disap-
peared after being thrown into
the underground cells, and are
presumed to have been
murdered.
He lived in lavish luxury,
with (5) ..
He kept a personal stable of 50
thoroughbreds, each worth tens
of thousands of rubles. Even
outside his private kingdom, he
had 15 private villas.
The palace he built for his
own family at Gurumserai con-
tained dozens of rooms, and he
had other residential blocks
built for his harem of mistresses
and the compliant husbands to
whom he married them. When-
ever he travelled outside the
farm, a bus went with him con-
taining (6) _^^_.
He liked to spend his even-
ings (7) _.
The lifestyle of the old Central
Asian khans apparently flour-
ishing in the modern Soviet
Union goes far beyond the wil-
dest satires of dissident writers
like Veinovich or Zinoviev.
And such is the nature of pol-
itical influence in the Soviet
Union that (8)
'The constant rumours that
Adilov is going to be released
without charges convinces us
that we (9)
Each day of procrastination
might cost lives,' commented
Literaturnaya Gazeta yester-
day, in the first major expose of
the Adilov empire, complete
with photographs of the under-
ground bunker.
Adilov was arrested three
years ago in the massive cam-
paign to clean up the Muslim
republic of Uzbekistan after the
death of its party chief, Sharaf
Rashidov.
Rashidov himself had lived in
similar luxury, based on a vast
lie, a regular yearly falsifi-
cation of the figures for the
republic's main crop of cotton.
Rashidov claimed it grew each
year, regularly praising the
contribution of Adilov's farm
complex when in fact (10)
When the fraud was discovered,
Rashidov's body was hauled
from the pompous mausoleum
he had built in Tashkent and
sent back to his native village
in disgrace.
But even though he has lost
Rashidov's Politburo-level pro-
tection, Adilov still wields
enough influence to have
stalled the police investigation
into his frauds and alleged mur-
ders for the past three years.
Martin Walker The Guardian
a his mobile kitchen, cooks, and
personal staff, and a live baby
lamb for his lunch
b sentenced at Adilov's personal
court to penal labour in the
fields
c the agro-industrial complex of
Gerumserai, in Uzbekistan
d asked me to clean out filthy
toilets
e one of the most prosperous and
admired farm complexes in the
Soviet Union
f ordered me to become a brigade
leader
g Literaturnaya Gazeta fears
that Adilov's empire may not
be finished yet
h lots of strange and expensive
animals in his house
i Adilov has been arrested.
it was declining
k present themselves at his court
and await his approval
I sitting in the vast courtyards of
his stables sipping imported
Napoleon brandy
m should delay reporting this
case no longer.
n a personal menagerie of
peacocks, lions and exotic fish
o production was increasing year
by year.
91
b
c
d
UNIT
8
D Speaking
Role play
This activity is designed to get you using your
English by arguing about an imaginary western
developed country, described below. Working in
large groups, you are going to imagine that you are
opposed political parties in this country. You will
choose certain ideas and policies to support, and
argue against those of the other party. First, read
the description of the country, called Rutland.
Although it is an imaginary country, think of it as
existing in the real world.
Role play situation
Rutland is declining industrially, particularly in
certain areas, where there is severe unemployment.
In other areas, where people earn well, there are
shortages of skilled workers. Industrial output is
continually hit by strikes against redundancies.
More and more people without jobs are flooding to
the big cities, overburdening services, living rough
and becoming involved in crime and in angry
protest, which are increasing alarmingly across the
country, along with drunkenness and violence.
There are the beginnings of a permanently
unemployed, unhealthy, uneducated, antisocial
lower class. The maintenance of the poor and
unemployed by Government expenditure is
bankrupting the country. Social, education and
health services do not function well because the
Government does not pay nurses, doctors and
teachers enough to attract people to the
professions, and does not invest sufficiently in
equipment and facilities. The natural environment
is gradually being destroyed by pollution.
Divide into groups of six or eight students. Each
group should split into two political parties, the
Liberals (left wing) and the Conservatives (right
wing).
Study the lists of general ideas and proposed
legislation and choose items which your party
supports.
2 Choose four or five points and prepare to present
these policies and defend your platform with
arguments. The platform may be fairly general, but
must at some point be relevant to the country's
problems.
3 Acting the role play
Each party should put forward its platform in turn,
defending it against the other party.
92
UNIT
8
Listening
2 As you listen to John, takes notes on:
Two views
of China
Discussion
• Note down anything you know about China,
particularly its recent history.
• Is democracy, as practised in some non-
communist countries, any better than a one-party
system? Why/Why not? Can you think of any
advantages of a one-party system?
Listening exercises
You are going to hear extracts from two interviews
with people who have had recent first-hand
experience of China, Martin and John (whom you
heard speaking in Unit 5).
1 As you listen to Martin in Interview 1, take notes
a What he finds good or praiseworthy in China;
b What he finds bad in China.
3 Listen again, and discuss the following questions in
I. groups.
a What sort of countries does Martin compare China
with? Why?
b In what way does Martin think the West
misunderstands the one-party system?
C In John's interview, why did the bus seem strange?
What cheered everyone up?
d What reason does John give for the Chinese
government's policy regarding families?
e According to John, why do poor people in
countries like India have so many children?
f What does John think has caused the increase in
cheating in China?
g If you had the chance, are there any questions or
comments you would like to make to either Martin
or John?
4 Listen once more, and fill in the gaps in the
following. Each line represents a word or a
contraction.
a Communism seems to have done a lot for China,
everybody has a bare
minimum standard of living.
b . . . the young people we met were very nice, very
interesting, but. . Western rather
naive.
c . . . they've been placed in a job where their
English is _ to them. ..
d . . . you know, I'd done many many Asian bus-
rides. And . -1 realised that
there were hardly any children. . .
e .. . whom nobody much cares for, they've got to
. . , there's no social policy to help
them.
f 'Was it a safe country to move around in?' 'Yes,
5 Match the meanings below to four of the words and
expressions in Exercise 4.
i totally useless
ii definitely, absolutely
iii in our opinion
iv manage to survive without help
6 Write a summary of either John's or Martin's
views. If you wish, add a paragraph giving your
own view or comments.
on:
a the had points of democracies;
b the good points of the Chinese one-party system.
93
UNIT
8
F Grammar
Relative clauses
Review and advanced points
The following extracts are from A Reading 1 and C
Reading 2. The clauses in bold type are relative
clauses.
The following are identifying (or defining) relative
clauses.
Workers who questioned his word would be beaten
The palace he built for his own family contained
dozens of rooms . . .
.. . his mistresses and the compliant husbands to whom
he married them.
They identify their antecedents, saying which
workers, which palace, and which husbands are
being referred to.
The following are non-identifying (or non-
defining) relative clauses.
Perhaps Ramiz Alia is like King Canute, who did not
claim that he could hold back the tides...
China whose ageing lorries still serve the land.
They add information or comment about their
antecedents (China and King Canute), which are
already identified sufficiently by their names.
For further information about relative clauses, read
on.
Punctuation
Identifying clauses are not preceded by a comma.
Non-identifying clauses normally are, and are
preceded by a slight pause when used in speech.
Relative pronouns
Who is normally used with human antecedents.
Whom can be used when a human antecedent is the
object of the verb in the relative clause.
Examples:
That's the man whom 1 was telling you about.
(Identifying)
Mrs Smith's brother, whom I had the pleasure to
meet recently works as a doctor in London. (Non-
identifying)
Which and that are normally used with non-human
antecedents.
When and where are used for times and places.
Whose is for possessions, for human and non-
human antecedents.
Examples:
Children whose parents get divorced suffer a lot.
(Identifying)
They used a stolen Mercedes, whose owner has not
yet been found. (Non-identifying).
That is used instead of which after superlatives, only,
every, no, etc.
Examples:
It was the longest film that had ever been made.
The only thing that matters is...
That is often used instead of who in conversational
English:
Example:
Why is it always me that does the washing up?
In such sentences the verb (does) is third person
singular, though the antecedent (me) is not,
Contact Clauses
In identifying clauses only, the relative pronoun is
omitted with object antecedents.
Example:
That's the man I was telling you about.
Which can also be left out.
Example:
This is the room you '11 be sleeping in.
Such clauses are known as contact clauses.
The position of prepositions
In informal English prepositions tend to come at
the end of the clause.
Examples:
She's the one I voted for. (Identifying)
Anyway, I found out that this picture, which I'd
already paid for, was stolen property. (Non-
identifying)
In formal English prepositions tend to come at the
beginning of the clause.
Examples:
The employee to whom you refer has now left the
company. (Identifying)
The new deal, under which wage rises are linked to
productivity, has been accepted by the union. (Non-
identifying)
However with phrasal verbs, the preposition always
stays with the verb.
Examples:
The word which you looked up... (Identifying)
This letter, which I came across by chance, was
important. (Non-identifying)
Other prepositional expressions also cannot be
broken up:
Example:
The recession has reduced demand, as a result of
which many companies have gone out of business.
Other such expressions are because of, instead of,
according to, the majority of, all of, etc.
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UNIT
8
Ellipsis with the passive
In A Reading 1 these items appeared:
... to overtake carts drawn by horses or oxen.
.. - a talent for wild rejoicing seen at a wedding.
These are hidden relative clauses. They could
instead be written: which were drawn by . . . and
which was seen at. . .
Non-identifying clauses can also be shortened in
this way.
Example:
This government, elected last year, has already
lien its promises.
1 Read this dialogue. Each line in the gaps represents
a missing word. What words could go in the gaps?
A What's a wardrobe?
B It's a big you „ up What
are. ?
A I've no What are they?
B They're those . to pin things
upon notice-boards.
A Oh yes, that's right. What's a lighter?
B That's easy. It's .
cigarettes
2 Listen to the dialogue on the cassette, and fill in
I the words you hear. Check against your answers for
Exercise 2.
3 Improvise similar dialogues in pairs. Use the word
lists on Study pages 173 (for Student A), and 174
(for Student B).
4 Look at this sentence:
The book the teacher we had the other day brought in
was really good.
Apparently nonsensical sentences like this are
the result of using two contact clauses. They are
easier to understand if one or both of the relative
pronouns are put back in:
The book (which) the teacher (that) we had the other
day brought in was really good.
Now it can be seen that:
We had a teacher the other day.
The teacher brought a book in.
The book was really good.
All of the following sentences may seem to be
nonsense at first, but only two really are. Which
ones?
a The man the dog I was given attacked was taken to
hospital.
b The dog the woman we spoke to earlier bit has
. been shot.
c The car the man I didn't like was driving was a
Mercedes.
d The people that couple we met last week brought
to the party were awful.
e The flat that estate agent you recommended
showed us was rather rude to us.
5 Write three similar sentences, including one or
more which are nonsense. Hand them to another
pair. Which of the sentences handed to you are
nonsense?
Combine the following pairs or groups of
sentences, using non-defining relative clauses.
The findings of the Wilson report were ignored by
the Government. The report had been drawn up by
a committee of experts.
Mr Smith and Mr Brown quickly became involved
in a bitter argument. There is a great deal of bad
feeling between them. In the argument, personal
insults were freely exchanged.
Professor Jones' theory has been ridiculed
throughout the scientific community. According to
this theory, the universe will end with a big bang.
British Coal Ltd has started to make a profit. It was
privatised last year.
At election time a great deal of political
propaganda is directed at the electorate. The
majority of the electorate understand less than half
of it.
This project has now been abandoned. The
Government invested billions of dollars in the
project.
The Government was pressed by its foreign advisers
to make political concessions. Instead of this it has
banned all political activity.
Racism is now a more explosive issue than ever.
There has always been a great deal of controversy
about racism.
95
6 Complete these sentences as you like, using
defining relative clauses.
a People whose
b Men really annoy me.
C Women really get on my nerves.
d I always get on with people
e bore me to tears.
f is waiting in queues.
g should be shot.
h I don't like food
i Hike places
It was one of those days .
k Anybody
I The only political system
UNIT
8
G Writing
i
Guided work: comparison and contrast;
sentence manipulation
In a comparison, we emphasise similarities. In a
contrast, we emphasise differences. The words and
expressions we use depend on whether we use one
sentence or more than one sentence.
How are the following used to compare and
contrast?
both neither similarly like unlike in
contrast on the other hand whereas in the
same way
Check your ideas on Study page 173.
Write sentences or pairs of sentences like the
examples on Study page 173, based on the
following fragments.
.. , whereas in my country .. .
Like football, ...
In the same way, human parents..
Unlike politicians, ...
The English, in contrast, ...
Neither smoking ...
Both teachers and ...
Compare the two imaginary countries described
below, using the language you have been
practising. Feel free to add detail if you wish.
Example:
Like El Pagador, Zimbola is a poor country, but
whereas El Pagador suffers from a huge foreign debt,
Zimbola owes very little.
Working in pairs, put each of the following
fragments into three different contexts, using three
of the connecting words and expressions listed
beneath it. The connecting expression may appear
before, after, or in the middle of the fragment.
The fragment may become a whole sentence or part
of a sentence, and you may change the wording
slightly according to the connecting word you use.
You may add as many words or sentences as you like.
Example:
.. . everybody has enough to eat in most communist
countries...
nevertheless moreover although
Communist regimes are often criticised for their erosion
of civil liberties. Nevertheless everybody has enough
to eat in most communist countries.
Communist governments generally try to improve the
basic living standards of ordinary people. Everyone has
somewhere to live, for example, although it may not be
very grand. Moreover, in most communist countries,
everybody has enough to eat.
Although everybody has enough to eat in most
communist countries, few people eat as well as the
average westerner.
.. . everybody has enough to eat in most
communist countries .. .
in contrast nevertheless moreover for example
whereas although
... in Western countries there is a great deal of
open discussion regarding important issues...
in contrast however for example furthermore
whereas in other words
... the governments of democratic countries are
chosen by the people in free elections . ..
on the other hand in spite of (you may add this or the
fact that) take the case of whereas because
consequently
4
a
b
c
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A Reading 1
A literary extract:
The wedge-tailed eagle
B Vocabulary
Verbs of movement and posture
C Listening
A poem: Snake
D Reading 2
Encyclopaedia extracts:
Creatures in the wild
E Speaking
Focus on function: requests and
permission
F Writing
Guided work: connecting words and
expressions
G Grammar
Passive voice: review of simple
variations; advanced variations
97
UNIT 9
A Reading 1
Discussion
• Note down all the ways you know in which
humans make use of animals. Do you think any of
them are wrong?
• Note down all the ways that you know of killing
creatures for sport. Do you think any of them are
wrong?
• Why do people kill creatures for sport? Does the
reason vary, from creature to creature?
Reading exercises
1 You are going to read the heginning and the end of
a short story by Geoffrey Dutton, called The wedge-
tailed eagle. Before you begin, make sure you
understand the following words.
aloof indolent to scorn to fluster to hack
vermin aheap to slew to jerk
2 Discuss the following questions in groups.
a What happened between the two extracts?
b At the beginning of the story, what is the
difference between the impression given of the
eagles, and the impression given of the planes?
What are the words which give these different
impressions?
C Which were bigger, the birds or the planes?
d What was the original intention of the fliers? Why
do you think they felt that way?
e What was the difference between the fliers' and the
farmer's view of the birds?
f How did the fliers feel about their success?
Comment on the expression 'the misery of their
achievement'.
g What does the writer mean by 'The watcher could
not always keep his station in the air'?
h What is the difference between the impression
given of the eagle at the end, and the impression
given at the beginning? What words give this
impression?
i Why did the fliers bury the bird and leave without
speaking to the farmer?
3 Write part or all of the story between the two
extracts. Try to make your contribution to the
story descriptively interesting, vivid and exciting.
The wedge
T
HROUGH the hot, cloudless days in the
back of New South Wales, there is
always something beside the sun
watching you from the sky. Over the line of the
hills, or above the long stretches of plains, a
black dot swings round and round; and its cir-
cles rise slowly or fall slowly, or simply remain
at the same height, swinging in endless indo-
lent curves, while the eyes watch the miles of
earth below, and the six or maybe nine-foot
wingspan remains motionless in the air. You
know that there is nothing you can do which
will not be observed, that the circling eagle,
however small the distance may make it,
however aloof its flight may seem, has always
fixed upon the earth an attention as fierce as its
claws.
But the eagles watch the sky as well as the
earth, and not only for other birds; when an Air
98
UNIT
9
-tailed eagle
Force station was established in their country
in 1941, they were not alarmed by the noisy yel-
low aeroplanes. Occasionally they would even
float in circles across the aerodrome itself, and
then disappear again behind the hills; the
pilots had little fear of colliding with one of
these circling, watchful birds. The vast,
brown-black shape of the eagle would appear
before the little Tiger Moth biplane and then be
gone. There was nothing more to it No ques-
tion of haste or flapping of wings, simply a flick
over and down and then the eagle would res-
ume its circling. Sometimes a pilot would
chase the bird and would find, unexpectedly,
no response; the eagle would seem not to not-
ice the aeroplane and hold the course of its
circling until the very moment when collision
seemed inevitable. Then there would be the
quick turn over, under, or away from the plane,
with the great span of the wings unstirred. The
delay and the quick manoeuvre would be done
with a princely detachment and consciousness
of superiority, the eagle in the silence of its
wings scorning the roar and fuss of the aircraft
and its engine.
Two pilots from the station were drinking
one day in the local town with one of the farm-
ers over whose land they used to fly.
'Two of us, you know, could do it,' one of
them said. 'By yourself it's hopeless. The eagle
can outily you without moving his wings. But
with two of you, one could chase him round
while the other climbed above and dived at
him. That way you'd at last get him flustered.'
, The farmer was not at all hopeful.
'Maybe it'd take more than a couple of planes
to fluster an eaglehawk. There's a big one
around my place, just about twelve feet across.
I wish you could get him. Though if you did hit
him, there mightn't be much left of your little
aeroplane.'
'It always beats me why you call them eagle-
hawks,' said one of the pilots. 'The wedge-
tailed eagle is the biggest eagle in the world.
You ought to pay him more respect, the most
magnificent, majestic bird there is.'
The farmer was hostile to this idea of
majesty.
'Have you ever seen them close-up? Or ever
seen them feeding? The king of birds landing
on a lolly-legged lamb and tearing him to bits.
Or an old, dead, fly-blown ewe that's been fool
enough to lie down with her legs uphill. Watch
him hacking his way into their guts, with the
vermin dancing all over his stinking brown
feathers. Then all you've got to do is to let him
see you five hundred yards off and up he flaps,
slow and awkward, to a myall where he sits all
bunched-up looking as if he's going to overbal-
ance the little tree. Still, go ahead with your
scheme. I'd like to see you beat one at his own
game.'
The two pilots landed in the paddock, and,
leaving the engines running, walked over to the
dark mass of feathers. One of them turned off
to the side and came back holding the severed
wing. It was almost as big as the man himself.
The two of them stood in silence. The
moment of skill and danger was past, and the
dead body before them proclaimed their vic-
tory. Frowning with the glare of the sun and
the misery of their achievement they both
looked down at the piteous, one-winged eagle.
Not a mark of blood was on it, the beak glisten-
ing and uncrushed, the ribbed feet and talons
clenched together. It was not the fact of death
that kept them in silence; the watcher could
not always keep his station in the air. What
both of them could still see was the one-winged
heap of bone and feathers, slewing and jerking
uncontrolled to earth.
In the distance they heard the noise of the
farmer's truck approaching, and saw it stop at a
gate and the farmer wave as he got out to open
it They quickly picked up the bird and its
wing, and ran with them to the little hillock
covered in rocks at the corner of the paddock.
Between two large rocks they folded both
wings across the bird and piled stones above it;
and then, each lifting, carried a large flat stone
and placed it above the others.
As they ran back towards the aerpplane a
black dot broke from the hills and swung out
above them, circling round and round, watch-
ing the truck accelerate and then stop as the
two aeroplanes turned, taxied and slid into the
air before it could reach them.
Geoffrey Dutton The wedge-tailed eagle
99
UNIT 9
B Vocabulary
Verbs of movement and posture
... swinging in endless indolent curves, ...
. .. They would even float in circles. ..
... up he (laps, slow and awkward, ...
... the vermin dancing all over his stinking brown
feathers.
These verbs of movement are chosen carefully by
the writer to give the impression he wants. Such
verbs can be useful in making your own English
more vivid and effective.
1 List all the verbs of movement or posture that you
know.
2 Work in pairs. Find the twenty-seven verbs of
movement or posture hidden in the letter box
below. They run from left to right or top to
bottom. Check on Study page 174 and do the
accompanying exercise.
Examples: shuffle; crawl.
3 Fill the gaps with words from your list. More than
one word may be the correct one.
a The people in the queue . along slowly, each
one just behind the other.
b The Hell's Angels. into the bar arrogantly,
obviously looking for trouble.
C Sit up straight, stop around like that. Aren't
you interested in the lesson?
d He around the park every day for exercise.
His doctor says he's too old to run.
e The children have ruined the sofa by all over
it every day, pretending it's a castle.
f Although his hands and feet were tied, he managed
to to the telephone.
g She on her father's knee, as he talked to his
friends.
Her back ached from
day,
over a typewriter all
i The poor old bellow broke his leg when he.
down the stairs one day.
j The baby stared up at his father, over him.
k The runner , but recovered and managed not
to fall.
I It's incredible the way monkeys can _ from one
tree to another.
m The old people . peacefully round the park,
to the car carrying the
chatting quietly.
n I left the shop and __
heavy box.
O He hurt his leg and all the way home.
p When it was shot the elephant . over and hit
the ground with a crash.
q The excited dogs . around all over the place,
getting in everybody's way.
r He didn't see the step, over it, and fell on his
face.
s Don't try to run too fast, just along and take
it easy.
t The lost child along the beach, crying for her
mother.
4 Group the words from the letter box into sets
according to meaning. Suggested groups are:
words connected with falling;
words describing ways of sitting;
words describing moving with difficulty;
words connected with moving secretively;
words describing energetic ways of moving;
words describing moving in a casual or directionless
way;
words describing ways of jumping.
Not all the words can be put in these groups, and
some may appear in more than one group.
100