COHERENCE

Exercise 1
Compare the following paragraph. How are they different?

Gold (1)
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, gold has a
lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and
ornamental purposes. Gold never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For
example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries
ago. Another important characteristic of gold is its usefulness to industry and science. For many
years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and
dentistry. The most recent use of gold is in astronauts' suits. Astronauts wear gold-plated heat
shields for protection when they go outside spaceships in space. In conclusion, gold is treasured
not only for its beauty but also for its utility.

Gold (2)
Gold, a precious metal, is prized for two important characteristics. First of all, it has a
lustrous beauty that is resistant to corrosion. Therefore, it is suitable for jewelry, coins, and
ornamental purposes. It never needs to be polished and will remain beautiful forever. For
example, a Macedonian coin remains as untarnished today as the day it was made 25 centuries
ago. Another of its important characteristics is its usefulness to industry and science. For many
years, it has been used in hundreds of industrial applications, such as photography and
dentistry. Its most recent use is in astronauts' suits. Astronauts wear heat shields made from it
for protection when they go outside spaceships in space. In conclusion, it is treasured not only
for its beauty but also for its utility.

In the following paragraph, the pronouns are not consistent. Correct them to make this paragraph
more coherent.

Olympic Athletes
Olympic athletes must be strong both physically and mentally. First of all, if you hope to
compete in an Olympic sport, you must be physically strong. Furthermore, aspiring Olympians must train
rigorously for many years. For the most demanding sports, they train several hours a day, five or six days
a week, for ten or more years. In addition to being physically strong, athletes must also be mentally
tough. This means that you have to be totally dedicated to your sport, often giving up a normal school,
family, and social life. Being mentally strong also means that he or she must be able to withstand the
intense pressure of international competition with its accompanying media coverage. Finally, not
everyone can win a medal, so Olympians must possess the inner strength to live with defeat.

Reference: Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Writing academic English. (4th ed.). New York: Pearson Education.
Exercise 2

A. In the following paragraph, the key noun is never repeated. Replace the pronoun it with
the key noun English wherever you think doing so would make the paragraph more coherent.

English
English has almost become an international language. Except for Chinese, more people
speak it than any other language. Spanish is the official language of more countries in the
world, but more countries have it as their official or unofficial second language. More than 70
percent of the world's mail is written in it. 1t is the primary language on the Internet. In
international business, it is used more than any other language, and it is the language of airline
pilots and air traffic controllers all over the world. Moreover, although French used to be the
language of diplomacy, it has displaced it throughout the world. Therefore, unless you plan to
spend your life alone on a desert island in the middle--of the Pacific Ocean, it is a useful
language to know.

B. In the following passage about dolphins, replace some of the pronouns with appropriate
singular or plural nouns.

Dolphins
Dolphins are interesting because they display almost human behavior at times. For
example, they display the human emotions of joy and sadness. During training, when they do
something correctly, they squeal excitedly and race toward their trainer. When they make a
mistake, however, they droop noticeably and mope around their pool. Furthermore, they help
each other when they are in trouble. If one is sick, it sends out a message, and others in the
area swim to help it. They push it to the surface of the water so that it can breathe. They stay
with it for days or weeks until it recovers or dies. They have also helped trapped or lost whales
navigate their way safely out to the open sea. They are so intelligent and helpful, in fact, that
the U.S. Navy is training them to become underwater bomb disposal experts.

Reference: Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Writing academic English. (4th ed.). New York: Pearson Education.
Exercise 3

Fill in each blank: with an appropriate transition signal from the list provided. Use each signal
only once. Add punctuation if necessary.

for example in fact similarly also

Time
One stereotype about North Americans says that they are obsessed with time. It
sometimes seems true that for North Americans, time seems as valuable as money.
(1)_________________ they even say, "Time is money." (2) __________________have you
noticed how many verbs can be followed by both time and money? (3)
___________________you can spend time, save time, lose time, find time, make time, waste
time, and run out of time. (4) __________________ you can spend, save, lose, find, make,
waste, and run out of money. (5) ___________________ North Americans seem to regard time
as a "thing" that one can own. You can have time, buy time, and take time. (One wonders how
much it costs and where it is taken.) A (6) ___________ piece of evidence that North Americans
are obsessed with time is their fanaticism about always being on time. (7)
______________________people who are habitually late risk punishment ranging from
frowning disapproval to losing their jobs. The (8) _______________________ proof is that
these poor people sometimes take courses in time management! That is really overdoing it,
don't you agree?

Reference: Oshima, A., & Hogue, A. (2006). Writing academic English. (4th ed.). New York: Pearson Education.