COMPARING AND CONTRASTING
1. Find the similarities and differences between the words in pairs.
1. a telescope and a microscope
2. a submarine and a dolphin
3. a computer and a calculator
4. a desert and a jungle
5. a photocopier and an x-ray machine
Stage 1
Comparison
1 Look at Tables 1 and 2 and complete these sentences. If necessary, look at Appendix 1, Section 3, Comparisons. Put one or more words in each space.
Satellite view of the River Nile
Table 1
a  The Nile is_
b The Amazon is. c  The Nile is_
d The Mississippi-Missouri is. e  The Yangtse is_
_the Mississippi-Missouri.
long_the Nile.
_river in the world.
_the Amazon.
Table 1 f   In Beijing, January is a
, river in China. _month
g July is a.
June, h There is.
. December.
_ month.
. rain in May.
July has the.
month.
_in March.
rain; in other words, July is
j August is_
July.
k December and January are _
1 The rainfall in February is _
m April is_wet _
n The rainfall in November is.
o July is the_
. warm.
. months. . in March.
October.
, month, and also
in May.
month.
Table 1: The Longest Rivers in the World
1 The Nile (Africa)—4,160 miles (6,695 kilometres)
2 The Amazon (South America)—4,080 miles (6,570 kilometres)
3 The Mississippi-Missouri (North America)—3,740 miles (6,020 kilometres)
4 The Yangtse (Asia: China)—3,430 miles (5,520 kilometres)
Table 2: Temperatures and Rainfall in Beijing, China
Month	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Temperature ("O	-A.7	-1.5	5.0	13.7	19.9	24.5	26.0	24.7	19.8	12.5	3.6	-2.6
Rainfall (cm)	0.2	0.5	0.5	1.5	3.6	7.6	23.9	16.0	6.6	1.5	0.8	0.2
Note:     The first month is January (J), the last is December (D).
Stage 2 1  Read the following carefully.
Extended Comparison
Several years ago, some research was conducted at Manchester University into the amount of time that overseas postgraduate students spent listening to spoken English and speaking English. Sixty students co-operated by completing s questionnaires.
It was found that an average of 22% hours per week were spent listening to English and only 6V„ hours speaking English to English people. An analysis of the time spent listening to English showed that lectures accounted for 5 hours and io seminars 2 hours. An estimated 2V2 hours were spent in serious discussion while 2 hours were devoted to everyday small-talk. Watching television accounted for 5'/4 hours and listening to the radio 4V3 hours. Going to the cinema or theatre only accounted for an average of % hour per week.
The following sentences are based upon the information contained in the text above. Complete the sentences by choosing from the list of words and phrases below: use each word once only. Make sure that you keep the same meaning in the sentences as in the text.
Choose from these words: biggest; as much . . . as; more . . . than (twice); least; most; not so many . .. as; as many . .. as; the same . .. as; greater . . . than,
a  The students spent considerably_time
listening to English_speaking it.
b  A_amount of time was spent in lectures
_,_in seminars.
c  Nearly_hours were spent listening to the
radio_watching television.
d The_popular way of listening to English
was by watching TV. e _,_number of hours was spent in everyday
small-talk_in taking part in seminars.
f  The_popular way of listening to English
was by going to the cinema, g__hours were spent in serious discussion
_in watching television.
h Nearly__time was spent in watching
television_____ in speaking English.
i _time was spent in serious discussion
_■      in everyday small-talk.
j   The_surprise in the survey was the small
number of hours spent speaking English to English people.
1  Look at the following table carefully.
Writing in English: Manchester University (SO students)
/a	type of	(average)	(average)
students	writing	frequency	length
52	essay	5 per term	2000 words
34	report	2 per term	4000 words
14	dissertation	1 per year	8000 words
12	thesis	1 after	300-1000 pages
		2-3 years	
The information in the table can be described (as an alternative to using the table). Notice the construction of the following sentence:
52% of the students wrote essays, of an average frequency of 5
per term, of an average length of 2000 words.
Now read the following paragraph, which describes some of the information contained in the table. Complete the spaces with information from the table.
. overseas
A survey was conducted among
postgraduate students at__. The purpose of the
survey was to discover the type,_and
.-of academic writing that was expected of th<
students by their supervisors or tutors.__of the
students__ reports, of an__2 pei
term.
. average length
Compare and Contrast
• The Venn Diagram allows students to see how two things are alike and how they are different.
• A student could use a Venn diagram to write a comparison/contrast essay by simply using the three sections of the diagram to make three paragraphs (two contrasting paragraphs, and one comparing paragraph).
Examples:
• Compare/Contrast the governments of two countries
• Compare/Contrast mammals and reptiles
• Find the least common multiple of two numbers
• Compare/Contrast a pyramid and a cube
mammal
reptile