I. (A)bility II. (B)rainpower III.(C)oaching by Prep Doctor IV. (D)etermination V. (E)nergy for hard work |
(A) I only (B) II only (C) III only (D) IV only (E) all of the above |
Does your brain dance with sugarplums at the prospect of being the Sergei Bubka of your admission test?
Well, why not? All that it takes is:
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The mastery of good
English usage in speech and writing presents different problems for different
individuals. Variations in backgrounds, education, reading habits and associations
are some of the primary factors that affect the attainmant of standard written
and spoken language skills; perhaps to a considerably greater degree than they
affect attainment in most other disciplines. Added to these variations are those
of immanent mental abilities; intellectual quotients (IQ's) that affect all
learning. Therefore, efficient and successful teaching of standard English usage
demands a method that is flexible and individualized - adaptable to the particular
needs of each student.
"C 3; Cultivating Clear Communication" provides such
a method. One of the guiding principles in its planning and preparation has
been that the student should be able first, to discover the points that he himself
or she herself has not mastered, second, to concentrate upon them and then,
to master them.
"C 3; Cultivating Clear Communication" is not about
exponents in mathematics; about fiber optics, about Morse code or about gee-whiz
breakthroughs. It is about the mastery of good English, the lingua franca
of our world. Once you have become sensitized to the difference between good
and substandard English, then you will discover the world around you with new
ears and new eyes.
An Example of
SUBSTANDARD ENGLISH USAGE:
I had just arrived to articulate my adurations on the importance of clarity
and precision in Standard English when my friend, substandard Sam, sauntered
in. After we had concluded our conventional phatic communion, he paused. Lowering
his voice just above a whisper, he asked, "What do you think of Donna and I
as a duo?"
"That," I replied would be a mistake. Donna and me is more like it."
"You are interested in Donna?"
"I am interested in cultivating clear communication."
"Clear enough," he agreed rather testily. "May the best man win." Then he sighed.
"Here I thought that we had a clear path to becoming a very unique duo."
"You could not be a very unique duo, Sam."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Donna couldn't be very insincere about being a little bit pregnant, could she?"
"Say what? You think that me and Donna . . .?"
"Donna and I."
"Oh." Sam flushed and sank into a chair. "Gosh, I didn't know nothing about
it."
"Of course you didn't know anything," I assured him. "Most people don't."
"The reason I feel very badly about this is because . . ."
"You shouldn't say that: The reason I feel bad is that . . ."
"Please, don't," Sam insisted. "If anyone's at fault here, it's me!"