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IELTS Preparation Series 2, Episode 4: Clouds


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Xem lời thoại bên dưới:

0:13

Hello. I'm Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation.

0:18

Today, we're going to look at 'paragraphs'.

0:21

But what's a 'paragraph'? Well it's a group of sentences that are related and develop

0:27

an idea.

0:29

You need to use paragraphs in any formal writing you do, especially in the IELTS writing test.

0:36

Let's listen to a weather expert talking about clouds, and then we'll look at how a paragraph

0:41

works.

0:43

Clouds have two effects. Now clouds obviously decrease the amount of incoming radiation,

0:49

that is heating, from the sun. That then affects how many more clouds form. It affects how

0:54

hot it gets in the daytime. At the same time clouds, at night time, prevent radiation or

1:00

heat escaping from the earth. This not only affects temperatures, but it affects the atmospheric

1:05

systems, the winds, then the humidity and how everything occurs.

1:12

Jim Arthur speaks clearly on the topic of clouds.

1:16

What we have here, when it's written down, is a really good paragraph.

1:22

A good paragraph consists of three main parts: a topic sentence, supporting sentences and

1:30

developing sentences.

1:32

Let's start by looking at the topic sentence. The topic sentence provides the main idea

1:40

of the paragraph. It tells us what the paragraph is about.

1:44

Here's Jim Arthur introducing the subject he will be discussing.

1:50

Clouds have two effects.

1:54

"Clouds have two effects."

1:56

This is Jim's topic sentence.

2:00

There are two parts to his topic sentence.

2:03

"Clouds have 2 effects."

2:05

The first part tells us the subject: the subject is 'clouds'.

2:12

The second part tells us the controlling idea.

2:16

The controlling idea is that clouds 'have two effects'. This is what the rest of the

2:23

paragraph will discuss.

2:24

Let's listen to Jim discussing the effects.

2:29

Now clouds obviously decrease the amount of incoming radiation that is heating, from the

2:34

sun.

2:35

In his second sentence, Jim states one of the effects of clouds that relates to and

2:41

supports the topic sentence.

2:44

"Clouds decrease the amount of incoming radiation." This sentence is called a supporting sentence.

2:53

Listen to him continue.

2:55

That then affects how many more clouds form. It affects how hot it gets in the daytime.

3:01

These two sentences further develop or support the idea expressed in the supporting sentence.

3:08

They're called developing sentences.

3:13

Developing sentences provide examples back up

3:17

explain illustrate

3:20

or clarify the point made in the supporting sentence.

3:25

Listen to the next sentence in the paragraph.

3:28

At the same time clouds, at night time, prevent radiation or heat escaping from the earth.

3:35

This is the second supporting sentence in the paragraph.

3:40

It supports the topic sentence. It gives the second effect of the clouds. They 'prevent

3:46

radiation or heat escaping from the earth'.

3:51

Now Jim develops the idea further.

3:54

This not only affects temperatures, but it affects the atmospheric systems, the winds,

3:59

then the humidity and how everything occurs.

4:04

Jim clarifies the information in a developing sentence. He tells us that clouds affect 'atmospheric

4:12

systems, winds and humidity'.

4:15

Let's summarise how paragraphs work.

4:18

Paragraphs consist of related sentences that develop an idea.

4:26

The idea is introduced in the topic sentence.

4:30

The idea is supported in the supporting sentences.

4:35

The idea is further developed with examples or clarification in the developing sentences.

4:45

There are different ways to structure a paragraph, but these basic elements occur in all of them.

4:51

When you practise writing paragraphs, try to 'make the ideas clear' and 'provide details'

4:57

to strengthen the points you are making. Also do this when you're speaking.

5:03

An important feature of a good paragraph is 'coherence'. Arranging your ideas logically

5:10

will help provide coherence and get your message across.

5:14

Now let's look at some vocabulary about the weather.

5:22

The clips we've seen feature a weather expert, Jim Arthur, talking about clouds.

5:29

He's a 'meteorologist'. He studies 'meteorology', the science that looks at processes in the

5:36

Earth's atmosphere that cause different weather conditions.

5:41

Jim works in Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory in Australia. Let's listen to him

5:47

talk about the particular weather conditions around Darwin.

5:51

Around Darwin we get tropical cyclones because we're close to that hot water to the north

5:57

of us. We also get continental thunderstorms - just come off the land, very violent thunderstorms

6:00

with a mixture of hot arid dry air and hot, humid air. We get monsoons, classic monsoons,

6:10

where the northwest monsoons come in for weeks on time.

6:14

Jim mentioned three words describing weather:

6:18

cyclones

6:19

thunderstorms

6:20

and monsoons

6:22

These words describe severe, and in some cases, violent weather conditions.

6:28

A 'cyclone' is a violent tropical storm or hurricane.

6:34

A 'thunderstorm' is a storm with thunder and lightning.

6:40

A 'monsoon' is a period of heavy rains, and the wind that brings those rains.

6:46

Many words used in English originally came from other languages. We use them so often

6:54

that we no longer regard them as foreign.

6:56

Let's look at some weather words we've borrowed.

7:01

'Cyclone' is from a Greek word.

7:05

'Monsoon' is a Portuguese word.

7:07

'Typhoon', which is a tropical cyclone or hurricane, is from the Chinese 'tai feng'

7:16

meaning 'extreme wind'.

7:19

'Tsunami', a large, destructive wave caused by an earthquake, is from the Japanese word

7:25

meaning 'harbour wave'.

7:28

A 'tornado' is a violent windstorm that circulates around a centre. It's from Spanish and it

7:36

means 'turning storm'.

7:38

So, in our glossary of words belonging to the field of weather conditions we can include

7:47

cyclone

7:48

thunderstorm

7:49

monsoon

7:52

typhoon

7:53

tsunami

7:54

and tornado

7:55

Listen to Jim using some of these words.

8:01

Around Darwin we get tropical cyclones because we're close to that hot water to the north

8:06

of us. We also get continental thunderstorms that come off the land, very violent thunderstorms

8:10

with a mixture of hot arid dry air and hot, humid air. We get monsoons, classic monsoons,

8:19

where, where the northwest monsoons come in for weeks on time.

8:27

Let's finish today by writing a simple paragraph using our new weather words.

8:33

The topic is 'English words', and the controlling idea is that 'many come from other languages'.

8:41

My main idea will be expressed in my topic sentence:

8:46

"Many words used in English originally came from other languages."

8:52

My supporting sentence will add:

8:55

"We use them so often we no longer regard them as foreign."

9:00

I can use a developing sentence to give examples:

9:05

"Monsoon, tornado and tsunami are words from Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese."

9:11

Lastly, I might finish with another supporting sentence that reinforces the main idea in

9:18

the paragraph:

9:21

"English is always changing because it adopts new words."

9:27

I hope you can put your new weather vocabulary to good use in some interesting paragraphs.

9:34

To find more information and tips, visit our Study English website.

9:39

That's all for today. I'll see you next time on Study English. Bye bye.

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