Just a Little One Step

Reading Comprehension For No. 1-9 1) There has, in recent years, been an outpouring of information about the impact of buildings on the natural environment; Information which explains and promotes green and sustainable construction design, strives to convince others of its efficacy and warns of the dangers of ignoring the issue. Seldom do these documents offer any advice to practitioners, such as those designing mechanical and electrical systems for a building, on how to utilise this knowledge on a practical level. 2) While the terms green and sustainable are often considered synonymous, in that they both symbolise nature, green does not encompass all that is meant by sustainability, which can be defined as minimizing the negative impacts of human activities on the natural environment, in particular those which have long-term and irreversible effects. Some elements of green design may be sustainable too, for example those which reduce energy usage and pollution, while others, s...

Reading Comprehension For No. 1-10 The Creators of Grammar No student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex.   By changing word sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate tiny variations in meaning.   We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle differences in meaning.   Nor is this complexity inherent to the English language.   All languages, even those of so-called 'primitive' tribes have clever grammatical components.   The Cherokee pronoun system, for example, can distinguish between 'you and I', 'several other people and I' and 'you, another person and I'.   In English, all these meanings are summed up in the one, crude pronoun 'we'.   Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is.   So the question which has ...