Note Taking

Note Taking

Read the following text and take appropriate notes.

Exercise 1

There are many different kinds of musical instruments. They are divided into three main classes according to the way they are played. For example: some instruments are played by blowing air into them. These are called wind instruments. In some of these the air is made to vibrate inside a wooden tube, and these are said to be of the woodwind family. Examples of woodwind instruments are the flute, the clarinet, and the bassoon. Other instruments are made of brass: the trumpet, and the horn, for example. There are also various other wind instruments such as the mouth-organ and the bagpipes.

Some instruments are played by banging or striking them. One obvious example is the drum, of which there are various kinds. Instruments like this are called percussion instruments.

The last big group of musical instruments is the ones which have strings. There are two main kinds of stringed instruments: those in which the music is made by plucking the strings and those where the player draws a bow across the strings. Examples of the former are the harp and the guitar and the later are the violin and the cello.

Exercise 2

Recently, international travelers who pay attention to the languages they encounter have been surprised. Conversations with the word “O.K.” can be heard all over the world. The word is used in the States at least seven times per day by an individual. Therefore the utterance “Okay” is emitted into the American air more than 1.5 billion times every twenty-four hours. The word “O.K” in English has replaced the expression “all right”, which is still used, although far less frequently than it was one hundred years ago.

 The most significant research into the history of Okay has been done at Columbia University. O.K was first seen in print in the Boston Morning Post of March 23, 1839, when the editor, Charles Gordon Greene, was interviewed, he said it stood for all correct spelled Oll Korrect.

Exercise 3

In a recently published report on divorce in the United States, statistics show that in the last ten years the divorce rate in the States has increased significantly. Because of the increase in divorce, more attention is being paid to how divorce is affecting children and what arrangements are being made for custody of the children when their parents get divorce. In the past, custody of the child in a divorce case was awarded to the mother. However, today, many couples are trying joint custody, which means the child spends an equal amount of time with each of the parent. It is best if a couple can agree on a custody arrangement, but sometimes if the child is old enough, a parent will have the child testify in court in  order to win the custody case.

Symbols and abbreviations frequently used in note taking.

 Some symbols and abbreviations derived from Latin are:

1. c.f: compare with
2. e.g.: for example
3. e.t.c.: et cetera, and so on
4. et. al.: and others
5. ibid.: in the same book/article
6. i.e.: that is
7. N.B.: nota bene (note well)
8. Viz.: namely (naming sth you’ve just referred to)
9. Supra: above (it is as word)
10. Infra: below (it is as word not an abbreviation)
11. et. seg.: and following
12. : Proportional to
13. ‰: per thousand
14. %: percent
15. «: much less than
16. »: much greater than
17. º from…… to leading to result
18. §: section
19. ^: Insert sth that is missing
20. {: equal to or greater than

Dept. of English,  ELT materials for classroom purpose.