ENGLISH: A SCIENTIFIC LANGUAGE

PRACTISE YOUR ENGLISH
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https://www.dropbox.com/s/zga38bb7m2azrja/ESL-April2013.pdf

PREFACE
 In writing this ‘first experience’ I have drawn on my knowledge in reading and writing scientific papers in English on ecology, ethnoecology, microbial ecology, plant and animal ecophysiology, chemistry, informatics, and the daily English usage practised for six years at the University of Essex and at Rothamsted Experimental Station, both in England. I am quite sure that error, spelling mistakes and even the ‘classical typographical errors’ will come across. In MODULE I the BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW is intended for beginners, or intermediate learners who need to remember the simplest possible grammar. It is not presented in order of difficulty and the different subjects of each Chapter are not arranged sequentially. In the end of some chapters there are Written Exercises. In MODULE II the SCIENTIFIC ENGLISH contains texts (some of them with questions and exercises); there are also More Texts in the end of this second part.

See below excerpt from this work:

In the first part, BASIC ENGLISH REVIEW, there are lists of:
1)WORD LIST
A a- (prefix): lacking in:  asymmetry, amoral.
About, on: about is used to talk about ordinary, more general things: ‘A book for children about Brazilian animals’. On suggests that a book, lecture a talk, etc. is serious or academic: ‘A lecture on forestry’.
Absorption, adsorption: absorption is the process of taking up by capillary, osmotic, chemical, or solvent action; adsorption is the holding of something by the surface of a solid or liquid through physical or chemical forces .
Actually: really, in fact.[See FALSE FRIENDS]
Accuracy: degree of correctness of a measurement or a statement; do not confuse with precision; precision : degree of refinement with which a measurement is made or stated; do not confuse with accuracy;  e.g. the number 3.43 shows more precision than 3.4, but it is not necessarily more accurate. Agenda: as singular noun, an outline.
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2)FALSE FRIENDS
FALSE FRIEND IS A WORD THAT ‘LOOKS’ (OR SOUNDS) SIMILAR TO A WORD IN YOUR OWN LANGUAGE
Actual (adj.) / Actually (adv.): real, existing in fact / really: ‘The actual cost was much higher than we had expected’ / ‘The food was not actually all that expensive’.
Cargo (n.): the goods carried in a ship or plane/aircraft or other large vehicle. ‘The tanker spilled its cargo of oil’.
Casualty: a person who is killed or injured in war or in an accident.
Commodity: something that can be traded, bought or sold. Discrete (adj.): separate; distinct: ‘The organisms can be divided in discrete categories’.
Discreet (adj.): intentionally not attracting attention: ‘He’s always discreet about his successes’.
Discretion (n.): 1) The freedom or power to decide what should be done in a particular situation: ‘To tell the truth to terminally ill patients is left to the discretion of the doctor’. 2) Care in what you say or do: ‘This is confidential, but can I rely on your discretion’?
Eventual (adj.) and Eventually (adv.): happening at the end of a period of time or of a process: ‘War is possible to predict with the eventual lack of water in many parts of the world’. ‘The increasing emissions of CO2 will eventually cause global warming.
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3) LATIN NAMES AND EXPRESSIONS                
addendum (pl. addenda): ‘thing that is to be added’ (addenda: ‘material added at the end of a book’).
ante meridiem (abbreviation a.m.): ‘before midday’.
circa (abbr.: ca.): about, approximately (with reference to a date or quantity).
cf. (abbrev. of confer): compare. editio citato (abbr. ed. Cit.): edition cited. et al. (abbrev. of et alii): ‘and others.
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