Don’t panic dears! You aren’t to translate or memorize this text; you are just given some questions to answer according to it. Use scanning skill to answer these questions. The tense of the questions will help you; pay attention to them.

1. What percent of the world’s newsprint paper is supplied by Canada?

2. What is the recent alternative for pulp?

3. What are fuel, oils and textiles made of?

4. What species of cannabis is mentioned?

5. When did Canada legalize the farming of hemp?

6. Who points out that marijuana is less toxic than tobacco or alcohol?

7. How long has hemp been cultivated?

Pulp Friction

Every second, 1 hectare of the world's rainforest is destroyed. That's equivalent to two football fields. An area the size of New York City is lost every day. In a year, that adds up to 31 million hectares -- more than the land area of Poland. This alarming rate of destruction has serious consequences for the environment; scientists estimate, for example, that 137 species of plant, insect or animal become extinct every day due to logging. In British Columbia, where, since 1990, thirteen rainforest valleys have been clear-cut, 142 species of salmon have already become extinct, and the habitats of grizzly bears, wolves and many other creatures are threatened. Logging, however, provides jobs, profits, taxes for the government and cheap products of all kinds for consumers, so the government is reluctant to restrict or control it.

Much of Canada's forestry production goes towards making pulp and paper. According to the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, Canada supplies 34% of the world's wood pulp and 49% of its newsprint paper. If these paper products could be produced in some other way, Canadian forests could be preserved. Recently, a possible alternative way of producing paper has been suggested by agriculturalists and environmentalists: a plant called hemp.

Hemp has been cultivated by many cultures for thousands of years. It produces fiber which can be made into paper, fuel, oils, textiles, food, and rope. For many centuries, it was essential to the economies of many countries because it was used to make the ropes and cables used on sailing ships; colonial expansion and the establishment of a world-wide trading network would not have been possible without hemp. Nowadays, ships' cables are usually made from wire or synthetic fibers, but scientists are now suggesting that the cultivation of hemp should be revived for the production of paper and pulp. According to its proponents, four times as much paper can be produced from land using hemp rather than trees, and many environmentalists believe that the large-scale cultivation of hemp could reduce the pressure on Canada's forests.

However, there is a problem: hemp is illegal in many countries of the world. This plant, so useful for fiber, rope, oil, fuel and textiles, is a species of cannabis, related to the plant from which marijuana is produced. In the late 1930s, a movement to ban the drug marijuana began to gather force, resulting in the eventual banning of the cultivation not only of the plant used to produce the drug, but also of the commercial fiber-producing hemp plant. Although both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp in large quantities on their own land, any American growing the plant today would soon find himself in prison -- despite the fact that marijuana cannot be produced from the hemp plant, since it contains almost no THC (the active ingredient in the drug).

In recent years, two major movements for legalization have been gathering strength. One group of activists believes that ALL cannabis should be legal -- both the hemp plant and the marijuana plant -- and that the use of the drug marijuana should not be an offense. They argue that marijuana is not dangerous or addictive, and that it is used by large numbers of people who are not criminals but productive members of society. They also point out that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol or tobacco. The other legalization movement is concerned only with the hemp plant used to produce fiber; this group wants to make it legal to cultivate the plant and sell the fiber for paper and pulp production. This second group has had a major triumph recently: in 1997, Canada legalized the farming of hemp for fiber. For the first time since 1938, hundreds of farmers are planting this crop, and soon we can expect to see pulp and paper produced from this new source

Definition and description are two very important concepts which have been discussed in the two first lessons of the first book of reading. Here I have provided you with further explanation of these concepts.

Defining:

a. A paragraph that precisely explains what something is or

how it looks or works, its purpose, etc.

b. This type of paragraph answers the question, “What do

you mean?” For example, what do you mean by “Biblical

authority”? Requires at least a paragraph, and more

likely a whole book, to explain your version.

c. Topic sentence identifies the subject and the focus of the

definition. For example, I will the term “university”

differently for an architect than for a student.          

d. Causes us to consider what we are discussing, who we

are discussing it for, and why. Need to define terms,

ideas, etc. for readers who do not have the same

knowledge or understanding that you have. For example,

I would briefly define my use of the term “hermeneutics” in

a journal article, but I would carefully define it in a second

year Biblical studies class.

Describing:

a. Can be used to explain an object, event, person, process,

position, express and clarify thoughts and emotions,

strengthen your conclusions of narrating and other

paragraphs.

`b. Topic sentence ought to identify and provide your central

impression, approval or concern about the event, person,

idea, or institution that you are describing. For example, “I

am pleased with our pastors’ friendliness and at the same

time concerned that their exclusion of the congregation

from decisions shows a lack of respect.”

c. This type of paragraph causes us to think in more detail

about a person,

The use of connectors in logical interpretation of a text

Many of you have heard your teachers talk about Logical Connectors. For sure, your teachers have emphasized on the importance of these phrases and words, but there still seems to be a lot of questions regarding their usage. Well, in order to familiarize you more with their usage, I have prepared this short post. Let’s have an example first:

Ali didn’t study well. Ali failed the test.

Question: Based on the sentences, is this argument True, False, or Not Given?

Ali couldn’t pass the test because he hadn’t studied well.

Easy, right? The answer is True for sure. Ali didn’t study, and he failed the test. That’s the usual case for everybody who doesn’t study well… But stop at this point! YOU ARE WRONG! The answer is: Not Given. Where in the sentences there is the relation between Ali’s not studying, and his not passing the test?

That’s exactly why logical connectors are used in a text. If there’s no such thing, there’s no logical relation between the two sentences, and you cannot understand if Ali’s failure was the result of his not studying. Can you get what I mean?

Read this other example:

I was really hungry.

I didn’t eat lunch.

What’s happening here? Which sentence should be written first? Well, nobody can tell for sure. It depends on the idea the writer wants to express. Look here:

I didn’t eat lunch. As a result, I was really hungry.

I was really hungry. However, I didn’t eat lunch.

Can you get what I’m talking about? That’s the very reason why we, as your teachers, emphasize on the importance of logical connectors. They help you a lot in understanding the organization of sentences in a reading passage, and they, therefore, help you in answering the questions precisely and correctly. I hope this has been of help in familiarizing you with the use of connectors in a reading passage. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask in the comments section.

Thank you for reading.

Besides improving your understanding of grammatical structures and your lexical resource, try to increase your fluency in reading.   As you know skimming and scanning are very important skills that you need in order to have an efficient and fluent reading. Reading an article a day will really come helpful. Don't waste your time on waiting for a miracle.  

Skimming: is used to quickly identify the main ideas of a text. When you read the newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're scanning the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.

There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and illustrations. Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you're seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.

Scanning: is a technique you often use when looking up a word in the telephone book or dictionary. You search for key words or ideas. In most cases, you know what you're looking for, so you're concentrating on finding a particular answer. Scanning involves moving your eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Scanning is also used when you first find a resource to determine whether it will answer your questions. Once you've scanned the document, you might go back and skim it.

When scanning, look for the author's use of organizers such as numbers, letters, steps, or the words, first, second, or next. Look for words that are bold faced, italics, or in a different font size, style, or color. Sometimes the author will put key ideas in the margin

Now try to answer the following questions, according to what was reviewed about the cause and effect relations. the answers can be found in the following text. Don’t forget to budget your time. You are supposed to do this exercise in no more than 10 minutes. This is also a good exercise to improve your skimming and scanning skills.

Multiple-Choice Questions