How to understand relations between parts of a text

李照

【Abstract】There are various ways of linking structurally-independent sentences together to produce a meaningful text. Of which the commoner ones are reference， hyponymy， equivalence， ellipsis， etc. you must have a good understanding of these links， so as to grasp the text as a whole.

【Key words】reference； hyponymy； equivalence； ellipsis

1. Reference

One common way of linking structurally-independent sentences in order to get a meaningful text is to use words such as this， that， it， they， which refer to something already mentioned（anaphora）or to something which is going to be mentioned（cataphora）. Failure to understand such referential links will probably lead to a serious misunderstanding of the text.

The following exercise will be useful to help you perceive these links through a careful reading of the text.

Exercise1.1 Read the passage carefully and point out what the italicized words refer to in the text.

The idea of evolution was not a new one. The Greeks had thought of It，

So had Erasmus Darwin， the grandfather of Charles， and also the Frenchman， Iamarck. It is one thing to have an idea； we can all of us guess and sometimes make a lucky guess. It is quite another thing to produce a proof the correctness of that idea. Darwin thought he had that proof in his notebooks. He saw that all animals had a struggle to survive. Those which were best at surviving their environment passed on the good qualities which had helped them to their descendants. This was called “the survival of the fittest”. For example， in a cold climate， those who have the warmest fur will. Darwin believed that this necessity for an animal to deal with its environment explained the immense variety of creatures.

What is “it” in “The Greeks had thought of It” ？

“it ” refers to “the idea of evolution”.（anaphora）

What is “it” in “It is one thing to have an idea”？

“it” refers to “to have an idea”.（cataphora）

What is “those” in “Those which were best at surviving their environment passed on the good qualities which had helped them to their descendants”？

“those” refers to “those animals”（anaphora）

The nervous system of the human body has been compared to a vast telephone network， providing communications links with all parts of a big city. The brain can be viewed as a central switchboard， routing all the incoming and outgoing calls. But it is for more than this， for it also makes decisions about what is best for the body at any particular moment， and what actions need to be taken to achieve it. The brain thus is also like the mayor of the city and his whole administrative staff.

What is “it” in “But it is for more than this”？

“it ” refers to “the nervous system of the human body”.（anaphora）

What is “it” in “for it also makes decisions about what is best for the body at any particular moment”

“it” also refers to “the nervous system of the human body”.（anaphora）

What is “it” in “and what actions need to be taken to achieve it”？

“it” refers to “decisions about what is best for the body at any particular moment”.（anaphora）

Although he was rarely conscious of it， Phineas was always being watched， like the weather.

What is “it” in “Although he was rarely conscious of it”？

“it”refers to“Phineas was always being watched”.（cataphora）

Sooner or later it had to happen， and that morning it did. “Finnys better！” Dr. Stanpole called to me on the chapel steps over the organ recessional thundering behind us.

What is “it” in “Sooner or later it had to happen， and that morning it did”？

Both of “it” refer to “Finnys better”.

2. Hyponymy

Hyponymy， one of the lexical cohesion devices， is the use of general words to cover more specific ones. It is very important to understand this lexical linking， or you may lose clues to successful textual understanding.

Read the following short passages careful and answer the questions.

One of the predominant concerns today is the future of our natural resources. This issue is of great importance because it is becoming clear to many people that our present resources will not last forever.

What is “this issue”？

the future of our natural resources.

It is always dangerous to generalize； however， it seems obvious that， on the whole， men hold a higher position in society than women. Because of this status， men enjoy more power than women.

What is “this status”？

men hold a higher position in society than women.

Many famous psychologists are trying to understand the problems modern people suffer from， but even these eminent scholars are confused about what causes them.

Who are the “eminent scholars”？

Famous psychologists.

Monthly increments in your salary will begin next year. The increases will continue for three years.

What is the “increases”？

Monthly increments in your salary.

3. equivalence

Sometimes the writer may use a rephrasing， or an equivalent expression of what has been said before to link the structurally-independent sentences together. By recognizing this kind of lexical device， equivalence， you can get the clue to a successful understanding of the text as a whole. For instance， after mentioning Henrys “problems” several times， the narrator refers to them as “the question” and “all his doubts”. And this equivalent expression works at the level of the paragraph and the chapter. If you fail to recognize this lexical device， you may feel at loss what are “the problems” or what are “his doubts”. The following exercises will help you to recognize equvalence in the text.

Read the following short passages carefully and try to find out equivalent expression in them.

Mr. Allen believes that marriage is a difficult and serious matter. He wants young people to understand that there are many changes that must take place after marriage. He believes that these adjustments should be understood before people marry.

equivalent expression： Many changes these adjustments

Both men had convincing stories to tell concerning the missing money， but Mr. Logans version of what happened was by far more believable.

equivalent expression： stories version

Until recently we had underestimated the scope of the problem of future shock. The size of the problem is even greater than we had imagined. We didnt realize how many areas would be affected by rapid rate of change.

equivalent expression： the scope the size

In order to strengthen his arguments， Toffler quotes reputable social scientists who agree with him. He hopes that， by quoting respected scholars， this arguments will be accepted by most readers.

equivalent expression： reputable social scientists respected scholars

4. Ellipsis

Ellipsis， one kind of grammatical cohesion device， is the omission of certain words from a sentence， which will be needed if the construction of the sentences is to be completed. Naturally， this grammatical cohesion device may cause confusion in understanding. The following exercises will familiarize you with this device.

Read the following short passages and try to perceive and understand the ellipsis in the texts.

Do you sometimes misunderstand the body language of foreigners？ If so， you should make allowances for both their ignorance， and your own！

Complete the construction of “If so”.

If so = If you do sometimes misunderstand the body language of foreigners.

Complete the construction of “and your own”.

and your own = and your own ignorance.

As I had to do whenever I glimpsed this river， I thought of Phineas. Not of the tree and pain， but of one of his favorite tricks， ...

Complete the construction of “Not of the tree and pain， but of one of his favorite tricks”.

Not of the tree and pain， but of one of his favorite tricks=I thought of the tree and pain， but I thought of one of his favorite tricks.

References：

[1]Fox，B.A.：Discourse Structure and Anaphora.Cambridge University Press，1987.

[2]Anderson J.Neil（2004）.Exploring second language reading.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.

[3]Elisabeth Maie（2005）.Textual relations as part of multiple links between text segments.