Portfolio 2

The English Language has many rules, and one of it is Punctuation. The 4 most commonly used punctuations are the comma[,], the colon[:], the semi-colon[;] and the period[.]. Other forms of punctuations include the question mark[?], the exclamation mark[!], quotation marks[“”], parentheses[()], apostrophes[‘] and dashes[-]. We will look through the 4 most commonly used punctuations in detail.

Commas are commonly used for separation to group words together and avoid confusion.

Example: The colours of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and indigo.

The comma can be used in place of the word ‘and’ in between two adjectives.

Example: Tom is a smart, handsome boy.

The comma can be inserted in between statements that are considered not essential after the subject of the sentence has been appropriately identified.

Example: Robert, who has a scar on his arm, is the class chairperson.

The scar on his arm is considered not essential, and therefore is enclosed by commas.

The colon is commonly employed during the listing of items.
Example:

The following are the Pool Rules:
1. Do not run around the pool.
2. Always swim under a supervision of a lifeguard.
3. No diving at the shallow end of the pool.

The semi-colon can be used to replace a period to separate two sentences.
Example: Do call me tomorrow; the goods will be ready by then.

Lastly, the period is used at the end of a complete sentence.
Example: Tom went to the park.
Example: He was on the phone.


Worksheet on the Use of Punctuation:
Level: Basic

Fill in the blanks with the correct punctuation: comma, semi-colon, colon or full stop. If you use a full stop, remember to change the following word into capital letter.

Passage 1:
Before my friends moved out of the city, they usually recite the advantages of suburban life (1)______ green grass, flowers, swimming pools, barbecues, and so on. Yet after my friends have lived there for a year or so, they realize that suburban life is not so pleasant as they were expecting. What causes this change? Their gardens! They soon learn that one unavoidable part of suburban life is yardwork. After they work all weekend in their gardens, they are much too tired to take a swim in their pools or even to cook some meat on their barbecues. And they have another complaint (2)________ they can’t live in the suburbs without a car. Most of my friends moved to the suburbs to avoid traffic, but now they have to commute to work downtown. They sit on a busy freeway two hours every day.
My opinion about urban life are very different from my friends’(3)______I live downtown, and I love it! Why? Well, first, I love nature (4)_______ flowers, green grass, trees and animals. In the city, I have all the advantages of nature (5)________ I can walk through the public park, smell the flowers, and sit on the grass under the trees. I can visit the animals in the zoo. Yet I have none of the disadvantages (6)_______ I don’t have to do yardwork or feed the animals (7) ______ Also, in the city, I can get everywhere by bus (8)_______ if there’s a traffic jam, I can walk home.

Passage 1.
(1) :
(2) :
(3) —
(4) — / :
(5) :
(6) :
(7) .
(8) ;

Exercise taken from http://courses.nus.edu.sg/courseware/ITSELF/

Writing Assignment 1

Although there are many advantages of having a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, there are several disadvantage of focusing on STEM education rather than language arts. Firstly, individuals are not trained to express a personal point of view. This is because STEM focuses on definitions, formulae and concepts, and those have been around for hundreds of years and have somewhat been set in stone. Thus, individuals in the STEM education usually memorize and regurgitate, from having no room for questioning. However, questions asked from a language arts education are usually debatable - one is free to express/ explore one's own view as there are no right or wrong answers. Therefore, through the lack of educational exposure, STEM individuals are not trained to express a personal point of view. The second disadvantage, naturally, would be the inadequancies of STEM individuals in dealing with societal/ human-related problems. Although STEM individuals are able to apply their knowledge to technical questions. Newton's Law, for example, however effective in the realm of STEM, cannot usually be applied to solve most human-related conflicts. By not being exposed to an adequate amount of societal/ human psychology modules that a language arts programme would usually offer, STEM individuals may be less aware of societal/ human needs, and therefore may not be as adept at handling human-related provblems. The third disadvantage is focusing too much on STEM education may develop individuals tha are too 'one-sided'. While STEM makes one smart, history makes one wise, music gives one expression and culture gives one depth. Focusing on other subjects other than science, technology, engineering and math might develop a more complete individual. In conclusion, though docusing on STEM education might be key to resolving the "Grand Challenges", one should be aware that there are possible disadvantages as well.

please comment!

Portfolio 1

Which idea in those two articles do you think is the most important to the profession? Briefly explain your choice in about 300 words.

Improving the "quality and quantity of water" is the most important to the profession, as mentioned in the article, "Introduction to the Grand Challenges of Engineering". While engineering is pushing the frontiers of almost all areas of life, the most important aspect of life should be engineering a solution towards improving the environmental situation of the earth. Though advancements in medical science (researching a cure to previously incurable diseases), gaining insights on how the brain works (discovering how it absorbs and recalls information more effectively) are important to the engineering profession, urgency demands the saving of the earth as top priority.

The earth is currently facing many problems, from global warming, to the depletion of natural resources. However, the conditions of the other elements are not as urgent as water shortage. The world’s freshwater supply is depleting at an unsustainable rate and by 2025, it is estimated that almost three-quarters of the world’s supply may be used up. (www.panda.org, 21st Aug 2008)

Without water, human beings will die. However, the amount of water we consume for our daily survival is miniscule compared to the amount of water we use for societal needs, mainly agriculture, which takes up nearly 70% of earth’s freshwater supply. While the human body needs about 8 litres of water a day, crops require a lot more (to produce a kilo of rice takes about two cubic metres). Due to the large requirement of water in this industry, famers are pumping up groundwater at a rate 160 billion cubic metres more than what the earth can replenish in an entire year. (www.wateryear2003.org, 21st Aug 2008) Other industries that use large volumes of water include manufacturing, where water is used to cool machinery.

There are two ways to solve the water crisis. The first is to increase the supply of freshwater in the world. This currently done through desalination processes, reverse-osmosis, and most recently, nano-osmosis, but engineering can strive to make these processes more effective and affordable. The second is to increase the efficiency of water in societal uses. Through more effective cooling systems for manufacturing industries, to possibly genetically-modifying crops that require less water, the water situation on earth could improve.

With the eventual depletion of water supply looming, the onus is on the engineers to tide us through one of earth’s biggest problems yet again.

[References]

Jamie Pittock (31 Jul 2002). "Fixing the global water,"

Retrieved from http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/freshwater/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=2628

International Year of Freshwater 2003 (Nov 2003). "Facts and Figures: The Different Water Uses,”

Retrieved from http://www.wateryear2003.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=1607&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html


Note to all: please feel free to comment!

test

test