Cory,H_AdvancedWritingNewEd

Processes and systems • Module 2C
1.1 The organization of a process description
This model is taken from a fravel book describing a journey down the Mississippi.
The author has visited a button factory. The organization of the passage is
exemplary; what is more, although the process is described in the past (the
factory visit is seen as an event in the writer's journey), the writer uses the
passive voice in the characteristic manner.
A Read through the text and choose the best phrase (A-I<) to fill each of the
gaps. Write one letter in each gap. Four.otthe suggested answers do not fit at
all. The exercise begins with an example (0). -
G Making buttons G
The whole process of button making was ni cely containe d
and comprehen sible. It sta rted (0) G of the factory
and rose, ma chine by ma chine, to the top. On (1) _
the liquid plastic was poured into an oil drum, mixed with
dye and hardener, and slopped into a centrifuge like a big
spin-drier, where (2) formed an even, translucent
sheet of soft rubbery stuff. The sheet was passed into the
machine that punched it into a thousand or so round
button blanks; (3) were fed on a conveyor belt into
an ove n whe re they were baked hard; then they were coo led
and sent on up (4) . Here more ma chines drilled
need le holes in them and carved patterns on (5) _
They were poli shed in a tumbling vat of wooden shoe pegs,
and (6) they were sorted into cardboard boxes.
A to the next floor
B upstairs again
C the first floor
D the top floor
E 01' the path
F their fronts and backs
G at the bottom
II the blanks
I it was whirle d around until it
. 1 the sheet .
K pieces of soft stuff
B Can you find three words in the text that the writer would not have used if he
had been writing this for a scientific study of manufacturing industries?
1.2 Writing practice
Write a short description of one of these processes. Write in a fairly formal style,
using the previous two texts as models.
• The production of milk, from grass to table
• How the human body works
• The greenhouse effect
• A Star is Born - the process of stardom from birth to death, in one field of
your choice (rock music , sport , film, etc.)
Types of writing • 55