Ⅰ. Reading Str ategy: Compar ison an d Cont ra st
Writers often use comparisons and contrasts to present information. A comparisonlooks at the features that things have in common; a contrast looks at differencesbetween things. These ideas provide a way for the reader to understand relationshipsand qualities of information. When reading comparison and contrast paragraphs youshould pay attention to the following two points:
1. Pa ttern s
Most writers usually use two classic organizational patterns of a comparison orcontrast essay to structure their essays. One is called block ar rangement of ideas; theother is called point-by-point or a lterna ting ar ra ngement of ideas.
1) Block Arrangement
Writers might compare and contrast things by first discussing all the relevantpoints associated to one thing thoroughly before taking up those of the second one.
This method is called block arrangement. Suppose the similarities of Gridlock andSubnormal，hometown and college town，will be discussed. Study the followingoutline，which shows this kind of organization.
TOPIC SENTENCE
Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss the
similarities between Gridlock and Subnormal，hometown and college
town
SUBTOPIC 1 Gridlock
A. Small population B. Geographic surroundings
SUBTOPIC 2 Subnormal
A. Small population B. Geographic surroundings
Compar ison Par agrap h
My hometown and my college town have several things in common.
First，my hometown，Gridlock，is a small town. It has a population of onlyabout 10，000 people. Located in a rural area，Gridlock is surrounded bymany acres of farmland which are devoted mainly to growing corn andsoybeans . Gridlock also contains a college campus，Neutron College，whichis famous for its Agricultural Economics program as well as for its annualCorn-Watching Festival. As for my college town，Subnormal，it too issmall，having a population of about 11 ，000 local residents，which swells to15，000 people when students from the nearby college are attending classes.
Like Gridlock，Subnormal lies in the center of farmland which is used toraise hogs and cattle. Finally，Subnormal is similar to Gridlock in that it alsoboasts a beautiful college campus，called Quark College. This college iswell known for its Agricultural Engineering department and also for itsyearly Hog-Calling Contest.
As you can see，after the topic sentence，this paragraph first discusses therelevant details about Gridlock and then presents the details about Subnormal.
2) Point-by-point or Alternating Arrangement
Writers might compare or contrast things by discussing a particular point aboutone thing and then immediately discuss the same point about the other. This is called apoint-by-point or alternating arrangement. An outline of this organization follows.
Ⅰ
Topic Sentence
Introduction in which you state your purpose which is to discuss the
similarities between Gridlock and Subnormal，hometown and college
town
Ⅱ
Similar ities of Gridlock a nd Subnormal
A. Small population
1. Gridlock 2. Subnormal B. Geographic surroundings
1. Gridlock 2. Subnormal
Compar ison Par agrap h
My hometown and my college town have several things in common.
First，both are small rural communities. For example，my hometown,Gridlock，has a population of only about 10，000 people. Similarly，mycollege town，Subnormal，consists of about 11，000 local residents. Thispopulation swells to 15，000 people when the college students are attendingclasses. A second way in which these two towns are similar is that they areboth located in rural areas. Gridlock is surrounded by many acres offarmland which is devoted mainly to growing corn and soybeans. In thesame way，Subnormal lies in the center of farmland which is used to raisehogs and cattle. . .
Notice how the ideas in this paragraph are organized. As usual，the topicsentence is at the beginning of the paragraph. After that，the paragraph continues bydiscussing the points of similarity between the towns of Gridlock and Subnormal，oneafter another.
2. Compa r ison and Contrast Wor ds and Phra ses
In the above comparison and contrast you will see various words and phrases thatcontribute to paragraph coherence. Here is a list of comparison and contrast words aswell as phrases often used in comparison and contrast paragraph:
So understanding how a writer uses comparisons will help you understand the
relationship between ideas.
Ⅱ. Applying the Read ing Str ategy
In this part，you are required to use the reading strategy you have just learned.
1. Read the following paragraph and answer the questions after it.
The reading process is similar to the writing process. Both are form ofcommunication by using the written word. The job of the writer，however ，is toconvey his or her message in a clear manner. The job of the reader，on the otherhand，is to extract from the written page as accurately as possible the informationbeing communicated.
Questions:
1. What is the similarity between the reading process and the writing process?
2. Find out the signal words which indicate this similarity.
3. What is the difference between the job of the writer and the job of the reader?
4. Find out the signal words which indicate this difference.
2. Fill in each blank with an appropriate word or phrase from those shown below.
in the same way，likewise，another similarity，similarly，whereas，too，while,both，however
Even though we come from different cultures，my wife and I are alike in severalways. For one thing，we are 1 thirty-two years old. In fact，our birthdays are inthe same month，hers on July 10 and mine on July 20 . 2 is that we both grew upin large cities. Helene was born and raised in Paris and I come from Yokohama.Third，our hobbies are alike 3 . My wife devotes a lot of her free time to playingjazz piano. 4 ，I like to spend time after work strumming my guitar. A moreimportant similarity concerns our values. For example，Helene has strong opinionsabout educating our children and raising them to know right from wrong. I feel
5 . Our children should receive a good education and also have strong moraltraining.