Modal Auxiliaries

Subject: 

ENGLISH STUDIES

[mediator_tech]

Term:

FIRST TERM

 

WEEK NINE

TOPIC: COMPREHENSION:

LAW AND ORDER.

The passage is adapted from the Daily Sketch. It is a report of a court case. The case involved five people including three women and a fifth form student of a Grammar School in Oyo. They were accused of breaking into the shop of Sule Ajibade and Bosede Shittu and stealing various articles. After the hearing, the case was adjourned till 12 March for a hearing.

The court heard that the five individuals were seen by several eyewitnesses engaging in suspicious activity outside Sule and Bosede’s shop. The witnesses testified that they saw them breaking into the shop, stealing various items of jewelry and electronics. The evidence presented by the prosecution was largely consistent with this account, and it was clear to the judge that the five individuals were guilty of the crime.

In spite of this, there was a great deal of disagreement in the court over what penalty should be imposed on the accused. Many members of the community argued that they should be harshly punished in order to serve as an example to others, while others advocated for a more lenient punishment given their young age. Ultimately, the judge decided to hand down a relatively light sentence, but warned that any further criminal activity on their part would result in harsher penalties.

 

 

EVALUATION

Questions, Page 79.

 

Topic: Vocabulary Development:

Administration of Justice.

Words associated with law and order include lawyer, legal, court, defence, convicted, sentenced, remanded, appeal, enforcement, charges, criminal, discharge, remand, custody, trial.

 

 

EVALUATION

Vocabulary, Page 77.

Topic:

Modal Auxiliaries

There are thirteen modal auxiliaries. They are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need and dare.

 

Uses

a. can/could

To express permission, possibility, ability or capacity.

E.g. Jane can go if she likes. (permission)

That river can be bridged. (possibility)

John could run fast when he was young.(ability)

 

 

b. may/might

To express permission or possibility.

E.g. Obi may come with us if he likes.(permission)

It might rain this afternoon.(possibility)

 

c. shall/will

To express simple futurity, determination, order or willingness to do something.

E.g. We shall attend the party.(futurity)

I will attend the ceremony.(determination)

 

d. should

To express obligation and logical necessity, condition.

E.g. He should attend the interview if he wants the job.(obligation)

If the boy should come, please inform me.(condition)

 

e. would

To express habitual action in the past, a request politely, a probability.

E.g. Every Sunday, we would attend the morning service in the church.(habitual action in the past)

I would like to come with you.(request)

 

f. must

To express obligation in the present and future, a logical necessity.

E.g. You must obey your elders.(obligation)

There must be a mistake in that calculation.(logical necessity)

 

g. ought to

To express obligation/the equivalent of should and to express a logical necessity or an expectation.

E.g. Every student ought to study hard.(obligation)

You ought to have finished the work by now.(expectation)

 

h. used to

To express habitual action in the past

E.g. We used to fly kites when we were young.

 

i. need (in negative sentence, to express the absence of obligation)

E.g. You need to leave now.

 

j. dare (as auxiliary verb, and especially in negative sentences and questions.

E.g. Nobody dare insult our leader

You dare not eat that food.

 

EVALUATION

Construct one sentence each to illustrate the uses of the verbs shall, must, could, might, need.

 

Topic:

Report Writing

A report is any kind of account given of any event that has taken place.

The approach to the writing of a report depends on the audience or readers for whom it is meant and on whether there is a standard format for it.

The report becomes formal when it is presented as a formal document giving details of an event. A formal report can be that of a robbery, an accident, the proceedings of a meeting, a work-camp or a petition.

The purpose of the report is to provide an account of a robbery that took place at a bank. The report outlines the details of the incident, including the time and location of the robbery, as well as information about the perpetrators and the victims. It also describes the resources used in response to the robbery, as well as the measures taken to apprehend the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Finally, the report presents any recommendations for preventing similar incidents in the future. This report is written for a broad audience, including law enforcement agencies and the general public, and adheres to a standard format in order to facilitate understanding and analysis.

 

                                    Sample of a formal report.

J. S. 3A

14th June, 2010.

 

The Principal

Queen of Apostles’ Secondary School,

Zaria.

 

Sir,

 

Report of the Robbery in Amina Hostel.

 

(Text of the Report)

 

Jumai Mohammed

Prefect (Amina Hostel).

 

EVALUATION

As the president of your club, write out a plan on your annual address which should be a review of the past year, emphasizing the objectives of the club.

 

READING ASSIGNMENT

Word Stress.

 

GENERAL EVALUATION

Comprehension

The Victims

1.     List the hardship in the woman’s life, including the one that has caused her to visit the soothsayer from the play extract.

2.     List the reasons given by the soothsayer for not making payment easier for the woman.

Structure

Say whether ‘as’ expresses time, reason or contrast in each of these sentences.

3.     I didn’t stay long as I was in a hurry.

4.     Tired as we were, we continued working.

5.     As I was reading the book, an insect fell onto the page.

6. I didn’t want to go as I was feeling ill.

7. The government has made efforts to provide clean water, as we all know.

8. They lost their way as it was getting dark.

9. He is late for the meeting as always.

10. As he entered the room, I rose to greet him.

Vocabulary

Use the words in parentheses to complete the sentences.

11. I visited a (soothsayer/shaman) in order to obtain advice about my illness.

12. The woman was charged with (disobeying/violating) a religious custom, and she served a short jail sentence as a result.

13. The soothsayer told the woman that if she did not (pay/make payment) immediately, something terrible would happen.

14. The woman was desperate to (remove/answer) the curse she believed had been placed on her by the soothsayer.

15. The woman’s family feared that if the curse was not dealt with, (misfortune/tragedy) would befall them.

16. Many people in the village performed rituals to (appease/appeal) to the gods for the family’s safety.

17. After consulting with her husband, the woman decided to (follow/obey) the soothsayer’s instructions.

18. The woman’s family finally (accepted/agreed) that she would have to make a sacrifice in order to lift the curse.

19. Despite her family’s opposition, the woman decided to make a (large/substantial) payment to the soothsayer.

20. In the end, the woman was (relieved/happy) that she had been able to lift the curse.

 

WEEKEND ASSIGNMENT

Revision and Tests Parts 1 and 2, Page 73, Effective English

 

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