Textos e exercícios de Gramática Textual da Língua Inglesa

Prévia do material em texto

Gramática Textual da Língua Inglesa - Professor Luciano A. Bezerra 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In the early twentieth century, a group of linguists in Prague described a feature of the way 
sentences in many languages tend to organize information. They noticed that sentences 
usually begin with “information” already known to readers or listeners— given 
information—and usually conclude with the point the speaker wants to communicate—the 
new information. A typical news item like Congress passed the farm bill today assumes that 
readers are familiar with Congress but do not know the new information, the News about the 
farm bill passing. This insight into information distribution is essentially rhetorical, rooted 
in the communicative necessity of patterning sentences according to what the audience 
knows already and does not know yet. 
The given or known information is also called the topic and the new information the comment 
on that topic (Clark and Haviland 1977 ). Once a topic, a local focus, has been set or “given,” 
the rest of a passage can build on this original topic in two different ways. In the fi rst method 
of topic/comment passage construction, the sentences or clauses following one another 
maintain the same topic, usually as the grammatical subject, as in the following opening 
from an article in the popular science magazine Natural History by Stephen J. Gould: 
 
While this passage maintains the same topic/subject, each sentence tells the reader 
something new about that topic. Unpredictable details hang off its simple structural 
skeleton of repeated topics. When clarity of explanation with unfamiliar material is critical, 
texts will oft en observe this pattern, as in sentences 2 through 5 of the following paragraph 
opening the fi rst chapter of an organic chemistry textbook. 
 
(1) The Cardiff Giant, the best American entry for the title of paleontological hoax turned 
into cultural history, now lies on display in a shed behind a barn at the Farmer’s Museum in 
Cooperstown, New York. (2) This gypsum man, more than ten feet tall, was “discovered” by 
workmen digging a well on a farm near Cardiff, New York, in October 1869. (3) Eagerly 
embraced by a gullible public, and ardently displayed by its creators at fi ft y cents a pop, the 
Cardiff Giant caused quite a brouhaha around Syracuse, and then nationally, for the few 
months of its life between exhumation and exposure. (Gould 1989, 14) 
Organic chemistry is the study of the compounds of carbon. The compounds of carbon 
constitute the central chemicals of all living things on this planet. Carbon compounds include 
deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs), the giant molecules that contain the genetic information for all 
living species. Carbon compounds make up the proteins of our blood, muscle, and skin. They 
make up the enzymes that catalyze the reactions that occur in our bodies. Together with oxygen 
in the air we breathe, carbono compounds in our diets furnish the energy that sustains life. 
(Solomons 1992, 1) 
Topic continuity can even be preserved without always making the topic or given 
information the grammatical subject of the sentence. Left-branching phrases and clauses can 
also put information in the front of sentences, the tactic Tom Wolfe used in the following 
passage. 
 
OLD X NEW INFORMATION 
 
 
[Thomas] Jefferson created a radically new frame of mind. In a thousand diferente ways 
he obliterated the symbols and deferential manners that comprise aristocracy’s 
cardiovascular system. Led by Jefferson, America became a country in which every sign 
of aristocratic pretension was systematically uprooted and destroyed. (2007, 62) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Jack threatened to divorce her often. 
2. He offered to paint the fence last night. 
3. He finally got rid of his hiccups by holding his breath, which had lasted an hour. 
4. He shouted at the bus driver trembling with rage. 
Rewrite the following paragraph, correcting all sentence fragments and run-on 
sentences. 
 
 
 
Read this draft of a short discussion of earthquakes in Turkey. Consider if and how you 
would revise the text. 
 
Benjamin Banneker, Colonial Mathematician 
Benjamin Banneker, who lived from 1731 to 1806, known to historians as an important African 
American man of science. The unschooled son of a formerly enslaved person. He was fascinated by 
mathematical puzzles and games he even built a working clock. Which he made out of carved wood 
after briefly examining a pocket watch and which kept accurate time for more than forty years. In 
1791 Banneker helped survey a ten-square-mile area of land, the Federal Territory, this became the 
District of Columbia, the site of the nation’s capital. Increasingly interested in astronomy, he 
calculated tables predicting the movements of the stars and this work was published in a 1792 
almanac. 
10 
 
Traduza o resumo abaixo 
 
PASSIVES 
There are several different reasons for using passives. This text illustrates some of them. 
A DRIVER has been sent to jail for 90 days for speeding. 
 
GRAHAM SMITH, 29, of North Street, 
Barton, was driving at over 60mph (96kph) 
near a Barton primary school last November 
when he was stopped by police officers, 
Didcot magistrates heard on Thursday. 
Twelve months earlier Smith had been 
disqualified from driving for three years for 
driving at 70mph in the Barton town centre. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
He was banned for twelve months in 2004 
for a similar offence. Mr Peter Jones, 
defending, said Smith had been using the 
car to visit a sick friend. He said Smith was 
depressed after the visit, and was anxious 
to get home as soon as possible. He was 
caught by police during a routine speed 
check in Wantage Road, Barton.
Resumo: No início da década de 1880, a peça teatral A Caipirinha foi encenada no interior paulista, 
contando a história de uma jovem moça caipira forçada a ir para a cidade. Escrita pelo político 
Cesário Motta Júnior (1847-1897), o texto dramático valoriza o caipira ao apresentar seu modo de 
vida em uma sociedade marcada por transformações. A peça foi levada ao palco diversas vezes 
entre os anos de 1917 e 1928, na capital paulista, e vertida ao cinema em 1919, mesmo período em 
que ocorrem importantes discussões sobre o caipira. O estudo desta peça, nesses diferentes 
momentos históricos, permite uma compreensão dessas representações do caipira e suas relações 
no processo de construção da identidade paulista. 
11 
 
Practice - Look at the way these passive verbs are used in the text: has been sent; was stopped; 
had been disqualified; was banned; was caught. Then look at the following explanations for why 
the writer chose passives. Two of them are right - which? The other three are wrong. 
 
A The writer was most interested in what happened, not who it happened to. 
B Most of the text is about what was done to somebody, not what he/she/it did. 
C It is not known, not important or obvious who did something 
D The writer was giving details of past events. 
E The writer wanted to go on talking about Smith. Active verbs (magistrates have sent ..., police 
stopped ... etc) would mean changing the subject and taking the focus away from Smith. 
SAME SUBJECT - A passive verb can make it possible to go on talking about the same person 
or thing. 
Practice - Choose the best ways of continuing each sentence. 
1 He lives in a small house. 
A Somebody built it about forty years ago. B It was built about forty years ago. 
2 English is well worth learning. 
A People use it for international communication. B It is used for international 
communication. 
3 He got a sports car, but he didn’t like it. 
A So he sold it again.B So it was sold again. 
4 My nephew is an artist. 
A He has just painted another picture. B Another picture has just been painted by him. 
5 The new Virginia Meyer film is marvellous. 
A They are showing it at our local cinema. B It is being shown at our local cinema. 
6 'How are your brothers?' 
A 'Fine. Peter's restoring an old boat.' B 'Fine. An old boat is being restored by Peter.’ 
 
 
12 
 
 
 
 
13 
 
 
14