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.