INTRODUCTION & CHAPTER 1

Dear  Students,

Congratulation! Now, you are a member of ITU Family..... After you have proved that your English is proficient enough, you will be able to start the education in your departments, attend student-exchange programs, do research, and the like.

It is great to have lessons with you. It must be a bit confusing for you since you have so many lessons and teachers each week. What I see is that you are self-motivated, which is curicial while learning English. Since we do not have a class picture, I have not uploaded one yet. but will take your pictures and upload them to our blog. Well... Let me explain why I decided to open this blog. To be honest, there are so many reasons:

•  Since you are a tech-savvy, I thought you may use interactive tools easily.
• Due to my workload, I have limited time, so this blog may be a great help to stay in touch with you.
• Your strenght: You know grammar by heart. You remember every single rule indeed.Yet, you need  variety and practice. The assignments and suggested activities will help you improve your English.
• I hope by means of the activities on our blog, you will be able see your strenghts and weaknesses.
• I have taken some online courses provided by Oregon University, and the British Council. I believe that if I put into practice whatever I know, it will be helpful to improve your English.  

What is our class profile?

As you know your level is Intermediate, which means you are able to express yourselves  clearly despite the limited lexical knowledge and  minor grammar mistakes. You are almost adults (17+) and eager to start and complete your academic career. There are 23 students in the class, and  some of you are not from Istanbul.

What is the setting?

Thank you for choosing Istanbul Technical University (ITU), where we provide a one-year intensive English program for our students before they start their faculty. It is such a crowded school. We run two different preparatory programs; one for the ones who will study at ITU, and the other for the ones who will study both at ITU and a sister school in the USA.

Apart from preparatory programs, we also have English lessons for Continuous Education Program called SEM shortly. Our classrooms are equipped with a projector and sound system. We do have wireless internet in the whole building. You can use our computer lab, writing center, dining hall, medical center, parking lot, service buses, and library whenever you need.  As part of school facilities, you may also use the health club on the main campus.

 You are so lucky to be in the heart of Istanbul. The location is amazing, you can go everywhere easily or enjoy the historic building.

What are the course goals?

As we all know you are required to prove that your English level is eligible enough. Thus, we offer you an intensive program till June. That is, in total you have 8 months. At the end, you may take our national exam or an international exam. Your priority might be passing one of the exams, yet remember that you need to use English efficiently in your career and social life.

My course is Reading, yet I would like to remind you that it exists in every skill. Thus, we will do various integrated activities using our knowledge. Our coursebook is Reading Explorer 3 by National Geography, which consists of 12 units, and each unit introduces interesting topics.

What do you need?

We provide all the materials including books and handouts. What you need to do is to follow lessons and complete assignments. If you need additional source, please feel free to use our library or ask for help. I have already provided plenty of activities. If you have not tried them yet, in spite of the deadlines, you can start to explore them.

Best

Class Teacher Hacer Şivil     sivilh@itu.edu.tr (just in case)

PS: Please click on our Wallwisher/Padlet below and write how you feel today. You may upload images, videos or anything else you wish. 

Created with Padlet

Reading finding mainideas_(1) from hacersivil

Reading finding mainideas_exercises1 from hacersivil

Reading finding mainideas_exercises2 from hacersivil

Unit1 a warmer from hacersivil

You can find the vocabulary and phrases in 1A below:

Unit 1A

Version(n): a form of something that differs somewhat from similar accounts

I prefer the original versions of songs to the remixed ones.

Evolve(v): to gradually change over time/  evolution(n) - evolutionary(adj)

Her hobby of making costumes for children evolved into successful textile business.

Decade(n): a period of ten years

There have been a lot of serious earthquakes in the last two decades.

Intense(adj): very great in strength or degree/ intensify(v) - intensification(n) - intensely(adv)

After the operation, she will have to protect her eyes from intense light for sometime.

Enthusiasm(n): great eagerness and excitement/  enthusiast(n) - enthusiactic(adj) -           enthusiastically(adv)

She has no enthusiasm for the work she is doing. She wants to quit it as soon as she finds a better job.

Data(n): information, facts, or statistics that you can analyze

The data about this subject are not easily available. You had better not choose it for your thesis.

Frontier(n): the most advanced achievement in a particular field ; the border between two countries.

Space is the final frontier of human beings.

Prospect(n): the possibility or chance/  prospective(adj)

The prospect of bankruptcy of one of the biggest companies in the country  alarmed not only the company owners but also the banks working with them.

Award(v): to give something, like a prize, to someone/  award(n)

All the winners of Olympic competitions are awarded with gold medals.

Enormous(adj): very large, huge/  enormously(adv)

I like to watch the races of enormous vehicles with giant wheels.

version	Annual-annually	evolve	brand
Invest-investment	decade	Intense-intensive	Enthusiastic- enthusiasm
data	Cos-hosted	Immigrate-immigrant	Appear-appearance
prospect	Award (v)	Participate in	enormous

Reading explorer3 1a_comp questions (1) from hacersivil


Check the vocabulary and phrases in 1B below:

Unit 1B

Champion(n): a winner of a contest or competition such as the Olympics / championship(n))

Muhammed Ali Clay is the most famous world heavyweight boxing champion ever.

Psychological(adj): related to human mind/ psychology(n) – psychologist(n)

Sleep disorders are among serious psychological problems and cannot be solved without the help of a psychiatrist or a psychologist.

Genetics(n): the study of how characteristics are inherited through genes/ genetical(adj) - genetically(adv) –gene(n) - genetic(n)

Heredity and variation of organisms are the areas of genetics.

Differentiate(v): to show dissimilarities between two things/ differentiation(n)

It has always been difficult for me to differentiate Jude from Jane as they are identical twins.

Generate(v): to produce or cause something to begin/ generative(adj) - generator(n)

During the brain storm sessions, students are expected to generate new ideas.

Enhance(v): to make something better, to improve it/ enhancer(n) - enhancement(n)

The goal of the environmentalists is not only to protect the environment but also to enhance it.

Attribute(v): to credit, or say that something is responsible for a situation/

attribution(n)

The rise in the number of children and young people who have diabetes is attributed to excessive amounts of  junk food consumed.

Motion(n): a body movement/motional(adj) - motionless(adj)- motionlessly(adv)

Before she got on the train, she turned back and made a slight motion with her head to say goodbye.

Automatic(adj): working by itself/ automatically(adv)

I can only drive cars with an automatic gearbox.

Adjust(v): to change something, so it fits properly/ adjustment(n) - adjustable(adj)

The mechanic checked and adjusted the brakes of my car. I can safely drive it now.

athlete	training	genetic	differentiate
Equipped with	muscle	fiber	Lift (v)
Enable to	Compete-competition	suffer	likely
enhance	attribute	motion	handle
adjust	Intense pressure	compliment	splash

Unit1 b warmer from hacersivil

Reading explorer3 1b_compquestions from hacersivil

Unit 1 A

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the words in the box.

award             data                 decade                        enormous                  enthusiasm

evolve             frontier           intense                        prospect                     version

1. The small school band __________________ into a very famous rock band only in five years.

2. Eight gold medals were ___________________  to Michael Phelps in 2008 Olympics.

3. She took a/an __________________ interest in archeology and has been taking part in archeological excavations.

4. 30s was a __________________ that influenced the world of fashion much more than the others.

5. I wish I hadn’t stored all the __________________ on a removable disk. I’ve lost it and I’m helpless at the moment.

6. Hungary was the __________________ state between the Ottomans and Europe for centuries.

7. The students are doing their tasks with little __________________ . You can understand it from the expression on their faces.

8.  In a rainstorm, __________________electrical discharges occur in clouds and become visible in the lightning bolts that discharge to the ground.

9. I would like to hear your __________________ of what happened after I left the meeting.

10. He is excited by the __________________ of earning more money.

Answers:

1. evolved                             2. awarded                            3. enormous                         4. decade               5. data

6. frontier                              7. enthusiasm                      8. intense                              9. version              10. prospect

Unit 1 B

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the words in the box.

adjust              attribute         automatic                   champion                   differentiate enhance            generate         genetic                        motion                        psychological

1. Children were ____________________ disturbed by the terrorist attack to the school. Luckily, nobody lost their lives.

2. Some illnesses are ____________________ inherited. If one of your parents or grandparent has diabetes, you are most likely to have it, too.

3. Turkish national football team has never been a world ____________________ .

4. Washing your face is a/an ____________________ behaviour after getting up in the morning.

5. What ____________________ natural yoghurt from the yoghurt produced in factories is that the natural one goes bad in  almost a week while the other can stay fresh more than two weeks.

6. Although he shouted  and made hand _________________ to get the driver’s attention, the driver couldn’t recognize him, and he missed the bus.

7. Suddenly, the electricity went off. After my eyes ____________________ to the darkness, I rose to find a candle.

8. On the Internet, there are lots of poems ____________________ to famous poets, but they sometimes do not belong to those poets.

9. The project which will supply the area with clean and fresh water ____________________ excitement among the residents.

10. The flavor of the most industrial food products is ____________________ by salt, sugar and other chemical additives.

ANSWERS:

1.psychologically               2.genetically         3.champion          4.automatic          5.differentiates   

6.motions                             7.adjusted             8.attributed           9.has generated    10.enhanced