Notes for  Basic Step By Step

PART III . NOTES  

    Part III . Notes For the Teacher and the advanced learner. - 40 pages

About Notes 1 .   The Body 2 .   Food 3 .   Work 4 .   The Weather       5 .   The Family 6 .   A Building 7 .   Fire 8 .   The Country 9 .   The Sea 10 .  Time

About Steps 11-20 11 .  The Machine       12 .  Business 13 .  Money 14 .  Noise 15 .  News 16 .  Amusement 17 .  Education 18 .  Reading 19 .  The Earth 20 .  History

About Steps 21-30. 21 .  Invention 22 .  Feeling 23 .  Art 24 .  Trade 25 .  Transport 26 .  Peace 27 .  Language 28 .  Society 29 .  Government 30 .  Science

Pictures

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Steps 21 to 30.
    By the end of Step 20 the learner has been given all the facts about the framework of Basic necessary for making himself clear, and 600 of the names of things and qualities generally needed for that purpose. Steps 21 to 30 take him on to names at a somewhat higher level, and to a freer use of words and structure. He has only three new general points to give attention to :
   (1) the addition of the -er, -ing, and -ed endings to 300 of the names of things ;
   (2) the use of un- at the front of names of qualities for forming their opposites ;
   (3) the making of owner-forms by the addition of  's  (or  '  by itself) to the names of things.
All the other points of which the material in this group gives examples are details of which any special account is unnecessary here because they are fully covered in The ABC, pages 90-162, and in The Basic Words.
    The Notes to these Steps will for that reason be no more than lists of the fixed word-groups, expansions of sense, special uses, less straight-forward complex words, and words used in new ways (an 'adjective' as an 'adverb', a 'noun' as an 'adjective', and so on) which are to be noted in them. (As before only the root sense of any new word will be given in the list at the front of the Step. If, in addition, an expansion or special use of it comes into the story, the key to it is to be looked for here.) No attempt has been made , naturally, to get all or even all the most important, of these into ten Steps, but care has been taken to give as representative a selection as possible. The complete list of all the fixed word-groups used in Basic is given in the ABC, and all expansions, special uses and complex words, in The Basic Words.
    Though such points may be made clear in words with a little trouble, the simplest way of teaching a number of them is by the use of pictures, of which we give three examples here.
    As further examples of how such developments may be made simple and interesting with the help of pictures, let us take the word-group "(be) going to (do and so on)," the expansion "the rest (of)," or the complex word "overlooking."
    A man is going into a book store. He is going -- to get a book. He gives his order to a woman who says "I'll see if we have it." While he is waiting, he is no longer 'going' from one place to another, but he is still "going to get a book." because the getting of the book is still something in the future, to which he is going in time. -- The young woman comes back : "Not in till Friday". So he is not going to get his book today. He says : "Please put me down for a copy and I will come for it on Friday." -- He is going to get his book on Friday.
    A number of books are resting on the table ; the teacher takes some of them away under his arm ; then he comes back for those which are still resting on the table, that is, for the rest.
    A small boy is going to his mother on the other side of the room, with his eyes fixed on her, looking over the cat which is stretched out between ; he comes up against the animal and has a fall ; overlooking the cat is one way of not seeking it.
    There is a complete statement of the use of the -er, -ing, -ed endings in the ABC, pages 82-89. It will be noted that words formed by the addition of -ed to names of things are used in the same way as the Special Past forms of operations looked on as names of qualities, and those formed by the addition of -ing in the same way as the -ing forms of operations. (See Steps 13 and 17.)

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Step 21 . Invention
General points : "It was not till much later that;"  "It is necessary to have." For this use of it, see The ABC, page 41, Note, and page 77.¹
"Take the place of ." Give attention to this general use of place.
Fixed word-groups : and so on ; there is ; to make . (for the special use of to, see The ABC, page 128.)²
Expansions : invention ; way ; readily ; right ; plate ; bulb.
Complex words : without, away , airplane .
Used in new ways : early as 'adverb' ("men early got").
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1 . We may now give some examples of the special use of it for starting statements (see page 147). In it seems to me . . . , it is true that . . . , it is wise to . . . , the it is pointing to what is going to be said. In it is raining (see page 178) the sense of it is open to argument, but seems to have some suggestion of a strange power which is responsible for events.
2 . To is the only name of a direction which has this sort of special use with the simple form of the 'verb,' which is named the 'infinitive' in books on language.
There is a small number of fixed uses of to with common things -- we go to bed (church, prison, school, sea, work).
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Back to   21 .Feeling

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Step 22 . Feeling
General points : Further examples of the use of to before the names of operations ("an impulse to," "enough to," my reaction was to
    The addition of un- to the names of qualities to give the sense of 'not _____' ; unable. (See The ABC p. 16).
Fixed word-groups : able to go ; go to sleep ; of use ; for a time ; a look at ; go on ; do damage..
Expansions : wood ; reason ; sense ; experience.
Special Uses : feeling.
Used in new ways : back as ' adverb' ("an impulse to go back").
Take note in addition of : 1 . the common use of go with names of qualities (==become), as seen here in go cold ; 2 . the use of take and in with interest ("took a great interest in") ; 3 . had a good laugh," see N10-4 and examples noted on N16-1.
Back to   22 .Feeling

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Step 23 . Art
General points : uncommon.
Fixed word-groups : in some way (in new ways, and so on) ; (not) at all..
Expansions : work ; painting ; process ; art.
Used in new ways : later as 'adverb' ("did not come till later.) ; expert as 'adjective' ("expert way of doing).
Take note of ).
Back to   23 . Art

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Step 24 . Trade
Fixed word-groups : in exchange for ; dependent on.
Expansions : goods ; instrument ; form ; comfort..
Special uses : account.
Complex words : cooking-vessel , overlooked...
Back to   24 . Trade

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Step 25 . Transport
Fixed word-groups : (a hundred years) old ; go on (getting) ; at present..
Expansions : day ; hard ; carriage.
Complex words : horseback (on) ; steamship ; railway.
Take note further of : at the same rate ; from place to place ; in comparison with ; come to an end ; which are all simple developments of earlier points.
Back to  Transport

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Step 26 . Peace
General points : the addition of 's to the names of things to make the owner-form : country's. From The ABC p.33 Note, and p. 35.
Sometimes in place of using ' of ' to give the idea of property, `s is put after the name of the owner as in the animal's tail (for the tail of the animal).
It is a safe general rule to make use of of when talking about things and fictions as if they were owners, and the ' a ' form when talking about persons and animals in this connection. For example, say : the stem of the flower, the end of hope ; but : the cow's horn, the men's trousers, the horses' food.
After a form for more than one ending in s, we put simply '.

Fixed word-groups : love of ; conscious of ; one another ; belief in ; put an end to ; give up ; have to ; put up with ; an attack on ; take into account ; take part in ; of war.
Expansions : right ; teaching ; clear ; step ; arms ; view ; point.
Complex words : outcome ; present-day.
Take note of the number-words hundred (100) and thousand (1,000).
Back to  Peace

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Step 27 . Language
Fixed word-groups : in addition.
Expansions : sense ; writing ; marked..
Special uses : motion ; fiction.
Used in new ways : first, second, as 'adverbs' ("First, to any sound") , and as 'nouns' ("the first is a statement" and so on).
Back to  Language

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Step 28 . Society
General points : person's
Fixed word-groups : (take) care of ; expert at ; in need of.
Expansions : young ; wrong .
Special uses : existence ; judge.
Complex words : become ; whenever ; themselves (see The ABC, p. 56, Note, for this and the parallel forms : herself, himself, itself, myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves).
New form : farther (farthest).
Used in new ways : good as a 'noun' ("all this good") ; wrong as 'noun' ("do wrong."). Note 21-5.
Back to  Society

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Step 29 . Government
General points : unwise.
Fixed word-groups : control of ; out of ..
Expansions : rule ; chance ; question ; representative.
Special uses : force. .
Complex words : wherever.
New form : farther (farthest).
Used in new ways : public as a 'noun' ("the public") ; representative as adjective' ("representative government" and so on) ; military as 'noun' ("the military").
Back to  Government

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Step 30 . Science
General points : body's ; the use of ' by itself as the owner-sign at the end of a form for more than one ending in s ; the Greeks' time.
Fixed word-groups : in order ; in motion ; take place ; different form.
Expansions : branch ; field.
Complex words : boiling-point.
Back to  Science

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