Notes:
• You need to upload a Word file via Turnitin on Moodle (your lecture group, under Week 7).
• You should do this assignment on your own. Any form of plagiarism will result in a “zero”.
• 10% of the marks will be deducted for late submission per day; ZERO mark will be given
for late submission of more than 7 calendar days.
• If the late submission is due to illness, injury or other unforeseeable reasons, the student
concerned may apply for a deadline extension. A written application must be made to Dr. Iris
WANG (xiriswang@cpce-polyu.edu.hk) within 3 working days from the deadline (i.e. not
later than Tuesday 22 March, 2022), together with any supporting documentary proof (e.g.
recognised and valid medical certificate).
In your assignment, you will need to
• Include your full name, student ID, and tutorial group
• Write in English. Answer all questions in complete sentences unless otherwise specified, and
observe the word limit; otherwise, marks may be deducted. Indicate the number of words
you’ve written at the end of the explanation correspondingly, e.g. (120 words).
• Format your word-processed assignment with: Font Size 12, Times New Roman, 1.5 line
spacing
• Use the concepts and conventions taught in LCH2016 Grammar in Context to answer and/or to
represent your analysis; color coding is not allowed.
2 | P a g e
1. The following sentences would be viewed as breaking various ‘rules’ of prescriptive grammar.
Try to find out what the rule is in each case. Then how would a descriptive grammarian view
these cases? Please explain the views of both approaches in your own words. Note: Do NOT
directly copy the explanations from any resources. (30%) [Word limit: 80 words for each
sentence]
a) They gave their five-year-old son an iPad as a birthday gift. And that’s when the problem
started.
b) Everyone has their own understanding of this event.
c) Do you know the boy she is talking with?
Answer Questions 2-5 with reference to the article on page 3.
2. Identify the Finite Verbal Groups and their corresponding structures (i.e. finite, polarity,
aspects, voice, etc.) in sentences #1-#4. Note: The finite verbal groups of other sentences won’t
be marked. You need to use the conventions taught in class, and indicate the corresponding
sentence number clearly. Do not use complete sentence to answer the question; you may follow
Example 1 on page 4. (28 %).
3. Identify and explain the shifts (i.e. changes) in Tense in sentences #5-#9. Pay attention to the
Finite Verbal Groups observed in these sentences. Use complete sentences to explain. Hint:
identify all the Tense in the Finite Verbal Groups in sentences #5-#9 first. (16%) [word limit:
120 words in total]
4. Identify the sentence components in Sentences #11- #13. Do not use complete sentence to
answer the question; you may follow the example of Example 2 on page 4. (10 %).
5. Group the underlined words into the following categories: (1) words containing only ONE
morpheme, (2) compound words, (3) words containing an inflectional morpheme, and (4) words
containing a derivational suffix for people. Note: Some words may belong with more than one
category. (16 %)
3 | P a g e
Six months of COVID vaccines: what 1.7 billion doses have taught scientists
1Over the past six months, hundreds of millions of people around the world have rushed to follow in
the footsteps of a 90-year-old British woman named Margaret Keenan.
2At 6:30 a.m. on 8 December 2020, Keenan became the first person to receive a COVID-19 vaccine
as part of a mass vaccination effort. 3Her shot was the culmination of a frenzied effort to develop
vaccines safely and in record time. 4Now, more than 1.7 billion doses later, researchers are sifting
through the data to address lingering questions about how well the vaccines work – how they might
shape the course of the coronavirus pandemic that has already taken more than 3.5 million lives.
5Danish epidemiologist Ida Moustsen-Helms was excited in February 2021 when she first saw how
well the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine was working in health-care workers and residents of long-term
care facilities. 6A clinical trial in more than 40,000 people had already found the vaccine to be 95%
effective in protecting recipients from symptomatic COVID-19. 7 But Moustsen-Helms, who works at
the Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen, and her colleagues were among the first to test its
effectiveness outside clinical trials. 8The results showed it was 64% effective in long-term-care
residents with a median age of 84, and 90% effective in health-care workers. 9 Since then, real-world
data have come in from several countries, and much of the news has continued to be positive about
how well vaccines perform in the general population.
10But researchers have concerns about emerging variants and the potential for immune responses to
wane.
11 More concerning has been the very rare blood clots linked to the Oxford–AstraZeneca and
Johnson & Johnson vaccines. 12According to the European Medicines Agency, it occurs in about one
in 100,000 vaccine recipients.13The condition can be fatal.
14However, regulators have repeatedly
determined that the risk posed by COVID-19 is greater for many people than is the risk of developing
the clotting syndrome.
Note: The article is extracted and adapted from the following source for assessment purpose:
Ledford, H. (2021, June 04). Six months of COVID vaccines: What 1.7 billion doses have taught scientists. Nature, 594,
164-167. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01505-x
4 | P a g e
Example 1:
1Kangaroos are large marsupials 2
that are found only in Australia. 3They are identified by their
muscular tails, strong back legs, large feet, short fur and long, pointed ears. 4Like all marsupials, a subtype of mammal, females have pouches 5
that contain mammary glands, 6where their young could live
7
until they are old enough to emerge.
Finite Verbal Group structure
# finite verbal
group
finite polarity perfect
aspect
progressive
aspect
passive main verb non-finite
1 are are ø ø ø ø are ø
2 are found are ø ø ø (are) found ø
3 are identified are ø ø ø (are) identified ø
4 have have ø ø ø ø have ø
5 contain contain ø ø ø ø contain ø
6 could live could ø ø ø ø live ø
7 are are ø ø ø ø are ø
Example 2: Sentence Components
1A retired postman from Turkey and a beautiful white swan have been inseparable for nearly four
decades. 2The story of their amazing friendship has melted the hearts of millions.
# Subject Verb Object Complement Adverbial
1 A retired postman from
Turkey and a beautiful
white swan
have been ø inseparable for nearly four
decades
2 The story of their amazing
friendship
has melted the hearts of
millions
ø ø