I have received queries on how to read articles meaningfully, learning collocation of words through phrases. Here's the reply I have given to a student who isn't sure about what to read for:
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Dear XXX,
First of all, let me define what I mean by phrases. If you refer to the article "Moral Vigilante" in the HOT TOPIC Blog, you will notice that I have highlighted the phrases in blue.
Take a look at those words, what did you notice about what I have identified as phrases?
1) They are in a sentence.
2) They are the part of the sentence that contain the main verb and the preposition after (Phrasal verbs)
3) They could also be idiomatic phrases ie. phrases that contain specific words when put together, means something.
These phrases will help you be more sensitive with collocation (like what we did in cloze) as they tell you what words must be paired with what other words.
Usually every article in the newspaper would use these phrases (which I call the functional words). If you can't find, perhaps the article you have chosen is not detailed enough. Otherwise, you will be able to find these phrases everywhere.
Tell you what, I am going to pick out those phrases in another article in the HOT TOPIC "Sticky Issue". You see if you are getting the idea of what I mean by phrases.
You can also research on what phrasal verbs and idiomatic phrases are to know more.
Regards,
Miss Chia
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Well, you could also check out the reference websites if you have the same doubts as this student.
