Learning Unit 2: Describing PlacesObjectives:At the end of this unit, students should be able to:1. Use adjectives and adverbs and use them appropriately2. Give an oral description for places of interest3. Write a descriptive text using appropriate organisation and features

SPEAKINGSpeak up!

Study the picture below and choose the words in the box that could be used to describe the picture!

hotpeacefulcongested

freshcoolspectacular

majesticpollutedmodern

cleangloomyTranquil / calmness/ tenang

bluecleardark

Switzerland

Next, try to fill in the blanks below with the words you have chosen above.

1. ___________ village or _________ settlement.2. ___________ air or _________ weather .3. ___________ mountain.4. ___________ valley.5. ___________ scenery or _________ view.6. ___________ sky.

Describing a place! create one essay. HOMEWORKWork in pairs and describe a place of interest which you have visited recently. Use some of the pointers given below to help you describe your travelling experiences and be prepared to share your information in class. The place you visited Physical description of the place The main attraction/attractions of the place Accommodation and facilities provided Description of food and beverages unique to the place (if any) Reasons for visiting the place Any other additional information

READING

Read Text 1 on Gunung Mulu National Park and answer the questions that follow.

GUNUNG MULU NATIONAL PARK

Gunung Mulu National Park is one of Natures most spectacular achievements and the Jewels in the Crown of Sarawaks expanding network of national park. It is also the largest national park, covering 544 sq km of primary rainforest; which is criss-crossed by fast flowing rivers and clear jungle streams. Mulu is dominated by three mountains Gunung Mulu (2,376 m), Gunung Api (1,750 m) and Gunung Benarat (1,858 m). Yet many of Mulus greatest attractions lie deep below the surface. Hidden underneath the forested slopes of these mountains is one of the largest limestone cave system in the world.

This system, a breathtaking natural wonder, contains a number of record breaking caves. With the worlds largest cave passage (Deer Cave), the worlds largest natural chamber (Sarawak Chamber), and the longest cave in Southeast Asia (Clearwater Cave), it is not surprising that Mulu is now world-famous. Over 200 km of cave passages have been surveyed but this is thought to represent just 30-40% of the actual total.

The oldest of Mulus caves started to form about 5 million years ago when sideways earth movements resulted in the formation of both limestone and sandstone mountains, lying side by side. Millions of years of heavy rain and the action of rivers and running water carved out the vast subterranean system that exists today. The weathering process still continues; dripping water creates new rock features, limestone is slowly worn away, and underground rivers carve and sculpt the caves, transporting limestone debris to the cave mouth or redistributing it within the system.

Although Mulu is synonymous with caves, the Mulu experience is not limited to underground attractions. With its rich primary rainforest, it offers a whole range of nature-based activities. There are some excellent jungle treks and mountain hikes. The climb to the summit of Gunung Mulu is the toughest organised trek in the park. It requires a high level of fitness and sense of adventure. Indeed, Gunung Mulu has always attracted adventures. The trek is usually done as a 4 day hike, but experienced trekkers can do it in less. A number of wooden huts are positioned along the trail and provide shelter for overnights stops. The trek to view them is one of the most popular in the park. Hikers can enjoy the wonderful view of thePinnacles, razor sharp limestone spikes that sit majestically on the slopes ofGunung Api.

With its rich bio-diversity, and world-famous caves, Mulu offers the adventurous traveller an exhilarating cave and rainforest experience, possibly unmatched anywhere else on Earth.

*Adapted from http://www.mulunationalpark.com/about-mulu-national-park.php and retrieved on January 22 2013Answer the following questions.1. Find the synonym(s) of the words given below.

a. Spectacular (paragraph 1):b. Vast (paragraph 3):c. Shelter (paragraph 4):d. Exhilarating (paragraph 5):Task: Fill in the table below with information from the text.1. Provide two reasons why Gunung Mulu National Park makes an excellent tourist destination?Reasons:

2. The Mountains and Caves of Mulu 1.Height Gunung Mulu (_______ m) Gunung ______ (1,858 m)Gunung Api (______m) 2. WidthLargest national park; _________ sq km3.NamesLongest Cave in South East Asia _____________Worlds largest cave passage _____________

LANGUAGE FOCUS In this section, you will learn to use Adjectives and Adverbs which can be used to make your description of places more interesting. AdjectivesWhy do we use adjectives?Adjectives describe how something is like. For example, It is also the largest national park, covering 544 sq km of primary rainforestTask: Identify five adjectives from the reading text on Gunung Mulu National Park.

How do we use adjectives in a sentence?i. Adjectives can be placed before nouns e.g. a breathtaking view, a secluded beach, a disciplined student. Adjectives will never be placed after the noun for example, an apple red or a car blue.ii. It can also be placed at the end of a sentence to describe a subject, for example, He is an excellent doctor.iii. It can also be used to compliment a sentence e.g. The oldest of Mulus caves started to form about 5 million years agoiv. It can come after the forms of the verb to be (is, are, was, were) as in The climb to the summit of Gunung Mulu is the toughest v. It follows verbs such as feel, look, smell, sound, taste, appear, become and seem. For example, this room feels cold. vi. Adjectives will always be in the same form and will not have any singular or plural form. For example, there will never be, difficults books=wrong.

How do we construct adjectives? i. Some adjectives are formed from nouns while some are purely adjectives. It can be formed by changing the spelling and adding y, en, ious for example; The cook used lots of salt in his cooking. The soup ends up becoming too salty. The kettle is made of gold. The golden kettle is now on display at the Sarawak museum. The football team has achieved sweet victory in the last game. The victorious event was considered as a revenge of the fallen and has renewed hope for the team to win the next world title.

The table below shows how to construct adjectives by adding y, en, or ious to nouns. Notice that some adjectives however, remain in the original form. NounAdjective

1a. The huts are built from wood. 1b. The wooden huts are built along the trekking trails.

2a. I can see the sand beneath the wooden platforms.2b. The sandy beach looks dirty. Plastic bottles are everywhere.

3a. Some people say you can taste the salt in the breeze.3b. The salty air whipped around my face.

4a. I heard a lot of noise as a big crowd came in.4b. The noisy crowd sat at the far corner.

5a. The waitresses were already serving fat prawns to the people at the next table.5b. Buttered prawns are a fatty food and are high in cholesterol.

6a. The best of all were the crabs. They were so fresh and the flesh was sweet.6b. The crabs were fleshy and sweet.

7.More delicious food was brought to us.

8a. There was a lot of space on the wooden platform where they had the set up the tables.8b. The restaurant was spacious, so we were not disturbed by the noisy crowd at the far end.

9. We were very full by the time we finished eating.

10a. People should control their greed when they go to seafood restaurants.10b. We reminded each other not to be too greedy and order too much the next time we come back for seafood.

Task: Provide the adjective for the words given below:BeautyHelp GlanceGlamourScareGleam

Where do I place the adjectives? When using more than one adjective to describe a noun place the adjectives in the following order before the noun. NOTE: We usually use no more than three adjectives preceding a noun. 1. Opinion Example: an interesting book, a boring lecture 2. Dimension Example: a big apple, a thin wallet 3. Age Example: a new car, a modern building, an ancient ruin 4. Shape Example: a square box, an oval mask, a round ball 5. Colour Example: a pink hat, a blue book, a black coat 6. Origin Example: some Italian shoes, a Canadian town, an American car 7. Material Example: a wooden box, a woollen sweater, a plastic toy Here are some examples of nouns modified with three adjectives in the correct order based on the list above. Notice that the adjectives are not separated by commas. A wonderful old Italian clock. (opinion - age - origin) A big square blue box. (dimension - shape - colour) A disgusting pink plastic ornament. (opinion - colour - material) Some slim new French trousers. (dimension - age - origin)

Check your understanding of adjective placement by placing the three adjectives in the correct order before the noun. Example given: book interesting - small - Spanish Answer: an interesting small Spanish bookNow, you try this! picture modern - ugly - rectangular : This is an ugly modern rectangular picture opinion old - boring American : The boring old American guy is giving his opinion apple ripe - green - delicious : She is eating delicious ripe green apple suit woollen - large - black : He is wearing large black woollen suit. house beautiful - modern - small : She has a beautiful small modern house magazine German - slender strange: She is reading strange slender German magazine cap cotton - funny - green : She is wearing a funny green cotton cap.

Task: Look at the pictures below and answer the following questions.

1. Describe what you see in the pictures.2. Suggest some activities which you can do at these places.3. Suggest an appropriate accommodation for people who go to these places.

Task: To further test your understanding of adjectives, complete the description below with the correct form of the adjectives. ageagedbluebluish

creativecreativityelaborateelaboration

paperpaperysand sandy

scenescenicstrongstrength

squaresquarishsub-tropicsub-tropical

whitewhitishthickthicken

Rainbow Beach Rainbow Beach is located on the coast of south-eastern Queensland, Australia, about a three-hour drive from Brisbane. It is a tranquil seaside town with a few rows of quaint- looking shops along the beachfront. In the town itself, there is a conspicuously large area set aside as a caravan park for holiday makers. A hundred or two (1) __________ containers are parked systemically in rows. Some are more (2) __________ than others, with a pull-out kitchen and picnic tables. Adults laze around outside their caravans while the children play on the camp ground. The caravan park is nested in a sub-tropical forest. Unlike tropical rainforests where the undergrowth is (3) __________ and the ground moist, the sub-tropical forest is good for bush-walking. The small clumps of bushes and sparse shrubs, interspersed by large trees, stretch for miles along the beach. There are hardly any mosquitoes and (4) __________ flies in the forest. Further away from the caravan park is a row of beachside houses about 50 metres above the sea level. These houses are not built along the beach because the Australian government has set aside a few kilometres of (5) __________ forest as reserve. However, they are still considered beachside houses because of the good view of the sea through the foliage of the forest. The booming of the waves can be heard amidst the twittering of birds and the laughing of kookaburras. These beachside houses are of all shapes, sizes and colours depending on the (6) __________ of the house-owners, some of whom built them with the help of friends on weekends over several months. A bush-walk for about 30 to 45 minutes in a direction away from the shoreline leads to the rainbow sand dune. The forest has teak trees with (7) __________ -thin barks and white-coloured trunks. Some huge trees (8) __________ in years, lie fallen in the forest. Emerging from the sub-tropical forest, one is greeted by the sight of a desert stretching endlessly. The (9) _________ powdery sand feels warm. Footprints in the sand lead away from the path in all directions. From time to time, a (10) ________ gust of wind picks up the sand and flings it in the faces of visitors. This is what causes the undulating landscape. Hang gliders dot the sky. Down below is the (11) _________ green sea glistening in the sun. Such is the natural beauty of Rainbow Beach that draws visitors and locals alike back to it, year after year.

Adverbs Why do we use adverbs? i. Adverbs give more information about the action that is done by the subject in the sentence. Adverbs are often used at the end of a sentence to modify the verb for example, Jill sang beautifully, or Jack drove carelessly.

ii. Adverbs can also be used to modify and affect the meaning of adjectives for example,

The place was terribly dirty. (Adjective > terrible) (Adverb > terribly)

I was suddenly surprised by him. (Adjective > sudden) (Adverb > suddenly)

Adverbs are easily recognized because it ends with -ly. They are formed by adding -ly to an adjective for example, beautiful-beautifully or careful-carefully.

iii. Adverbs of frequency explain how frequent or often you do something. It is often used with the simple present tense as it indicates a repeated action or a routine activity. For example, They often go out for dinner.

iv. Below are examples of adverb of frequency ranging from most often to least often;

always most oftenusuallyoftenoccasionallyseldomrarelynever least often

v. Placement of adverbs

If the sentence has one verb, put the adverb in the sentence after the subject and before the verb, for example, Because of the cheaper air fares, she always travels by plane. subject adverb verb Adverbs of frequency come after the verb to be, for example, Joe is never late for work. verb to be adverbTask: Write a sentence using the adverb of frequency given below. 1. Rarely =

2. Often =

3. Never =

vi. If the sentence has more than one verb, (for example, auxiliary verb) put the adverb of frequency before the main verb. For example; They can never do the task given! auxiliary verbadverbmain verb They have often visited Sarawak. adverb main verb

vii. When using adverbs of frequency in the question or negative form, put the adverb of frequency before the main verb. For example;

She doesnt often visit Europe.

adverb main verb

Do you usually get up early? adverb main verb

Grammar Practice: Circle the correct word or phrases to complete the sentences below. PBI 0021Preparatory English 2Semester 1 2013/14

2

1. I ______ early on Saturdays.A get up usuallyB usually get upC get usually up2. She ______ late for work.A never isB is never3. Peter _____ work so late.A doesn't usuallyB usually doesn'tC doesn't never4. ______ for work?A Often you travelB Often do you travelC Do you often travel5. When _____ your homework?A usually you doB usually do you doC do you usually do6. She _____ late for class.A often isB is oftenC are often7. My friend Jane _____ to concerts on Saturday evenings.A goes sometimesB does sometime goC sometimes goes8. I _____ in the city on Sundays.A am rarelyB rarely amC rarely are9. When do you _____ get up for work?A alwaysB everC usually10. I _____ for work.A travel sometimesB don't travel sometimesC sometimes travel

WRITINGDescribe a place of interest in your local hometown which you want others to know about. Make your description as vivid and as interesting as possible. To help you with your writing, you may follow the general guidelines given below. Organise your writing into three main parts; the introduction, body and concluding paragraph. Provide relevant details of the place you want to promote. Use creative descriptions to arouse your readers interest.