STANDARD II: The student will demonstrate appropriate word choice

1. STANDARD II: The student will demonstrate appropriate word choice OBJECTIVE 1. Use words that create clarity, precision, and vivid description.

2. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Avoid redundancy/repetitive phrases in sentences. • The architect plans to build a gymnasium to beconstructed at the high school. (to build and to be constructed are repetitive) • The architect plans to build a gymnasium at the high school. (more precise language)

3. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Use specific and precise references. • We caught a lot of fish. (vague reference) • We caught 8 trout. (precise reference)

4. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Do not use meaningless phrases. • Wordy: The reason that he went to college was on account of the fact that he wanted to be a lawyer. • Concise: He went to college because he wanted to be a lawyer.

5. Examples of Meaningless Phrases • It goes to show that • On account of the fact • Came to the realization that • By virtue of the fact that • It goes without saying that • One of the most interesting • After all is said and done • As of the moment • The reason is that • In the nature of • It is clear that • On the whole • As the case may be • Serve the purpose of • Some kind of • Sort of • Take the time • Needless to say • During the course of • For the purpose of • It is certain that it is obvious that • in terms of • It is a fact that • It appears that

6. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Avoid talking around a subject. Some long phrases can be replaced with one or two words. • Wordy: Due to the fact that the shirt had been put into the dryer, at this point in time the stain can’t be removed. • Concise: Because the shirt had been put into the dryer, now the stain can’t be removed.

7. Long Phrases & Concise Replacements Long Phrases Concise Soon Early Early Always Now Although By Because Will I think Either soon • At an early date • Ahead of schedule • At all times • At the same time that • At this point in time • Despite the fact that • By means of • Due to the fact • Is going to • In my opinion • Any one of the two • In the near future

8. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Use words effectively without using clichés or jargon. • Clichés – an overused phrase that has lost its effectiveness. • Clichés: Always look on the bright side of life. • Revised: Always have a positive attitude. • Examples: hard as a rock, fat as a pig, last but not least, better late than never, a crying shame, flat as a pancake, raining cats and dogs, so far, so good, have the last laugh

9. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Jargon is the use of words that are unnecessarily technical, abstract, or pretentious. It can also be the specialized vocabulary of a profession, a social group, or a specific area of expertise, such as the medical field, computer technology, any sport, etc. • Jargon: The speech clearly demonstrates linkages between procedures, personnel, and objectives. • Revised: The speech shows the relationship among procedures, personnel, and objectives.

10. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Use vivid language to create an image. • The bird flew in the air. (general, vague language) • The red hawk soared through the midnight sky. (vivid imagery)

11. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Choose the BEST way to rewrite the underlined part of the sentence. The architect designed plans to build a new stadium that is to be constructed at the new high school. • stadium • stadium being built • new stadium to be constructed • stadium that is to be constructed A

12. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Choose the BEST way to rewrite the underlined part of the sentence. As soon as winter comes, they’ll go skiing in the mountains. • Next winter • During the winter • After the winter snow is falling • Because the snow falls in winter A

13. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Choose the BEST word or words to make the sentence clear and precise. The ________waves made swimming dangerous. • big • ten-foot • powerful • mountainous B

14. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • All four sentences express the same idea. Choose the sentence that expresses the idea most vividly. • The hawk flew into the sky. • The hawk rode a current higher and higher. • The red-winged hawk flew quickly upward. • The red-winged hawk, riding a thermal current, soared out of sight. D

15. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • All four sentences express the same idea. Choose the sentence that expresses the idea most vividly. • The skater cried out as she fell on the ice and hit her knee. • The skater screamed in pain when her knee hit the rock-hard ice. • The skater called out when she was skating and her knee got hurt. • The skater yelled when she landed on her knee while she was skating. B

16. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • All four sentences express the same idea. Choose the sentence that expresses the idea most precisely. • The West is a place to study coyotes. • The West is a good place to study things. • A trip to the West can help a person learn about coyotes. • A trip to the West is a way a person can learn about them. C

17. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description Choose the best word or words that make the sentences sound clear and precise. • On Friday morning, Tommy plans to meet Joey ________. • early • at seven • when the rooster crows • as the sun comes over the horizon B

18. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • Choose the best word or words that make the sentences sound clear and precise. The florist created an arrangement with ________. • nice flowers • beautiful blossoms • daisies and marigolds • large pink and white blossoms C

19. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description Choose the best word or words that make the sentences sound clear and precise. • In his backpack were ______. • many useful things for school • several important school items • books, notebooks, and supplies • things that he needed during the day C

20. Objective 1: Words that Create Clarity, Precision, and Vivid Description • All four sentences express the same idea. Choose the sentence that expresses the idea most vividly . • The dog moved fast across the yard. • The dog got rapidly across the entire yard. • The dog raced energetically across the lawn. • The dog ran quickly all the way across the lawn. C

21. All four sentences express the same idea. Choose the sentence that expresses the idea most precisely. • The clerk painstakingly wrote every stock number on the receipt. • The clerk took a long time writing the information on the receipt. • The clerk took several minutes to write each detail on the receipt. • The clerk took forever writing lots of specifics on the receipt. C

22. STANDARD II: The student will demonstrate appropriate word choice OBJECTIVE 2. Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately

23. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Formal language does not include the use of slang, contractions, clichés, second person pronouns, and/or jargon. • You should not prepare the meal while watching the tube. (informal language because of the use of you, a second person pronoun; and the use of tube, slang for television)

24. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Slang means using words and expressions, such as ain’t and What’s up? • Contractions are two words put together with an apostrophe, such as couldn’t, won’t, I’ll. • Second person uses you, such as You need to have self-respect to be happy. • Jargon is the use of words that can be pretentious or unnecessary technical to impress. Examples are words, such as hypothesize, interface, prioritize. • Clichés are overused expressions, such as white as snow.

25. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Formal language is used in reports, textbooks, research papers, speeches, business letter and course catalogs.

26. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Informal language allows for the use of slang, contractions, second person pronouns, and/or jargon. • We didn’t realize how close to the edge he had gotten. • You never know when it might happen.

27. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Informal language is used in conversations with friends and in friendly letters.

28. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that would be appropriate in a letter to a friend but NOT appropriate in a formal report. • Most of them live in water, but a few species make their home on land. • More than four thousand different types of crabs exist around the world. • This is cool because crab claws are a favorite food of everyone I know. • Depending on a crab’s habitat, the size of its claw can vary considerably. C

29. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Read the following paragraph from a formal report. Choose the sentence in which the language is inappropriate. (1) In a nuclear reaction, changes occur in the nucleus, or center, of an atom. (2) When two nuclei join in a nuclear reaction, the nucleus of a larger atom forms. (3) In this process that we call nuclear fusion, lots and lots of energy is released. (4) A high temperature and extreme pressure are necessary for nuclear fusion to occur. • Sentence 1 • Sentence 2 • Sentence 3 • Sentence 4 C

30. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that would be most appropriate in a formal paper. • Jellyfish are a kind of simple animal with two layers of cells and jelly stuff in between. • Jellyfish are simple animals with two layers of cells having a jelly-like substance between them. • If you look carefully at jellyfish, you’ll find two layers of cells with jelly in between. • Jellyfish are these simple animals with two layers of cells with a jelly substance between them. B

31. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that is appropriate in a research paper. • Nebulae perform like magicians to turn stardust into human beings. • Nebulae are vast clouds of gas where stars are forming. • Nebulae may look like seashells, turtles, even butterflies. • Nebulae can be some of the most beautiful objects in the universe. B

32. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Identify the sentence that would be inappropriate for a formal course catalog. • Insect relationships to habitats are recorded and interpreted. • An introduction to the ethnic diversity of American literature is presented. • Principles and techniques of field measurement for grasslands, shrub lands, and woodlands are explained. • An in-depth exploration of history, technique, and everything you need to know about filmmaking is offered. D

33. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that would be appropriate in a letter to a friend, but not in a formal report. • Mount Everest remains the tallest of all mountains. • Some differences of height measurements have occurred since a survey in 1987. • I haven’t yet climbed Mount Everest, but I hope someday to have a chance to try. • The mountain named K-2 was measured at 29,000 feet and is the second tallest mountain. C

34. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that would be most appropriate in a formal letter. • They say Armenian men expect to live to 69 years and women to live 7 years more, to 76 years. • For all the millions of Armenian people, there are only a couple thousand trains and cars. • Armenian decided it wanted to be independent about the time other Soviet countries did. • Since declaring independence, Armenia, a former Soviet Union country, has established a republic. D

35. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Read the following paragraph from a formal report. Choose the sentence in which the language is inappropriate. (1)Lightning is a huge electrical spark that discharges electrical energy. (2) The type of lightning determines the length of the flash that is visible. (3) Lightning that zaps between a cloud and the ground could maybe be about nine miles in length. (4) A flash of lightning that travels between two clouds can be more than 90 miles long. • Sentence 1 • Sentence 2 • Sentence 3 • Sentence 4 C

36. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that would be most appropriate in a formal paper. • Even with all that, there were four countries with more gold medals. • I couldn’t believe that the United States won 13 gold medals that same year. • In 1994, for the first time, winning athletes received money as well as medals. • Bonnie Blair, who speed skates, won five of the medals; you wonder how she could win that many. C

37. Objective 2: Use Formal and Informal Language Appropriately • Choose the sentence that is appropriate in a research paper. • Whether to proceed further is really your call. • Whether to proceed further isn’t a matter of law. • Whether to proceed further depends upon several factors. • Whether you proceed further depends on several factors. C