Text: REPORT

REPORT TEXT

Information reports are used to present information about something. They generally describe an entire class of things, whether natural or constructed: mammals, the planets, rocks, plants, computers, countries of the region, transport, and so on.

Structure

Information reports are usually organised to include:

• a general statement identifying the subject of the information report, perhaps defining and classifying it;
• description (‘bundles’ of information relating to, for example, features, behaviour or types).

Grammar

Common grammatical patterns of an information report include:

• use of general nouns, eg hunting dogs, rather than particular nouns, eg our dog;
• use of relating verbs to describe features, eg Molecules are tiny particles;
• some use of action verbs when describing behaviour, eg Emus cannot fly;
• use of timeless present tense to indicate usualness, eg Tropical cyclones always begin over the sea;
• use of technical terms, eg Isobars are lines drawn on a weather map;
• use of paragraphs with topic sentences to organise bundles of information;
• repeated naming of the topic as the beginning focus of the clause.

THE EXAMPLE

General statement   Description

The Pelican Report   Pelican is part of the bird family. It’s The only kind in Australia   Pelicans have a big bill with a pouch. Most pelicans have white body feathers. All pelicans have short legs. Most Pelicans have large webbed feet. Most Pelicans live around the coast. Pelicans eat crustaceans, crabs, fish and shrimps. Pelicans fly with their head back. Pelicans lay two, three or four white eggs. They take thirty five days to hatch. Pelicans can weigh u   Taken from Board of Studies NSW, English K-6 Module, NSW

 

THE EXERCISES

EXERCISE 1

Answer the following questions correctly by reading the text below.

1)      What does the writer tell on the report?

2)      What are the characteristics of shark?

3)      What is ‘gills’?

4)      What is the function of cartilage?

5)      What are the differences between harmless sharks and harmful sharks?

6)      Why do sharks still keep moving when it is asleep?

7)      What is the main idea of the last paragraph

Shark Report A shark is a type of fish that lives in the sea. It is one of the largest sea creatures. There are over 350 species. A shark is shaped like a torpedo. It has rough skin like sandpaper. Instead of bones it has elastic cartilage which helps them to move easily. It can grow up to 8metres. Sharks are found in all oceans around the world. The type of shark found will depend on the water’s temperature. A shark has to keep moving when it is asleep because it will either sink or suffocate. It has to keep moving because it needs to breathe through its gills to keep alive. When sharks are hungry, they look for food. Different sharks eat different food. Harmless sharks eat plankton but harmful sharks eat meat. Sharks have up to forty two babies (which are called pups) at a time. When the pups are born, they leave straight away because the mother shark does not have teats. Some sharks have their pups in different ways, some lay eggs while others have them alive. When they are born they need to defend themselves because they have no one to help them. Taken from Board of Studies NSW, K-6 English Module NSW.1998

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXERCISE 2

Here are the characteristics of sharks mentioned above. State whether they are true or false and give reason.

1)      …. Sharks can be found in the ocean only.

2)      …. Shark is the largest animal in the world.

3)      …. Sharks have more than 40 babies at a time.

4)      …. Sharks lay eggs to have their pups.

5)      …. Sharks have not more than 350 species.

EXERCISE 3

Answer the following questions based on the data of the report above.

1)      In what paragraph can you find the general information about the report text of shark?

2)      Where can you find the description of shark?

3)      What features/descriptions are mentioned in the text?

4)      Can you find noun groups from the text? What are they?