Below you´ll find the extract with which you´ll start getting ready for this practice.
How to proceed with a text you see for the first time?
- Read the text quickly and get the gist of it - the main idea. What is it about?
- Decide if the vocabulary is formal or informal.
- Then scan the text for nouns, verbs, adjectives & adverbs. Rank them according to their linguistic relevance in the text. Do they repeat themselves? Does that serve any purpose?
- Are there any modal auxiliaries? How would you use them, in their strong or weak form? Are there any verbs of incomplete predication?
- Now have a look at punctuation: does it highlight any word or words? What about commas and full stops - do they help you spot the pauses?
- Make sure you use strong and weak forms when you read.
- If needed, check the pronunciation of words in your dictionary! VIP - it´s a strong asset in your practice.
- Read the text aloud meaningfully, and listen to your own voice.
- What have you noticed? Are you respecting the analysis above? Or are you going along your own way?
- Enjoy the story!
The evening, after my
grandmother had given me my bath, she took me once again into the living-room
for another story.
“Tonight,” the old woman
said, “I am going to tell you how to recognise a witch when you see one.”
“Can you always be sure?”
I asked.
“No,” she said, “you
can´t. And that´s the trouble… But you can always guess. In the first place,”
she said, " a real witch is nearly
always wearing gloves when you meet her.”
“Surely not always,” I
said. “What about in the summer when it´s hot?”
“EVEN in the summer. She
has to. Do you want to know why?” my grandmother said. (,,,)
