Portfolio 2:A Common Grammar Mistake: Word Forms
In English language, there are several different kinds of word forms: verb, noun, adjective, pronoun, preposition, adverb, conjunction, article, numeral. Each kind of word has different functions and some of them have similar usage. So knowing how each one is used is very important. No matter in written or speaking English, I make mistakes by misusing them and it is essential for me to learn more about all these word’s correct usages. Among those words, verb, noun and adjective are most commonly used and here I will concentrate on them.

In terms of verb, it has many tenses where I always make mistakes. For example, when a noun is used as a subject in single form, the corresponding verb should be used as single verb too. Also, verb has two important forms, namely “-ing” and “-ed” forms. By using these two forms, verb can be used as attributive such as challenging problem and reserved seat. Above are only two basic usages of verb while other usages await me to explore.

In terms of noun, there are countable and uncountable noun which relate to the use of article. For example, tree, apple and people are countable nouns; water, chalk and light are uncountable nouns. Noun also has difference of single and plural such as leaf and leaves. A remarkable example I want to mention is people because its singular and plural forms are same. Both are places mistakes usually happen and I need to pay close attention to them.

In terms of adjective, the most important thing is collocation because adjectives are usually used to modify other words. Sometimes I make some collocations which make no senses in English. In this aspect, I think I can improve by doing more practices and accumulate in my daily life.

In short, I need to realize where my mistakes always happen and pay attention to them next when encountering them, as well as more practices. I believe that I will do better by my effort.

A Practice:Errors in word forms are indicated in italics. Write the correct form of the word in the corresponding lines in the right hand column.

From the living room and family car to the supermarket and office, it's impossible to escape the electronic revolution that is transforming the way people live and work.

Already, 1.technology gains are bringing to people products, services, and recreation they never dreamed of just a few years ago: stereophonic television, TV sets that can be 2.carrying in a coat pocket, portable radios with stereo sound, home telephones that signal when another caller is on the line and forward calls from home to business, bill paying without the paperwork.

Outside the home, the dazzle of electronics is no less brilliant, a 3.perfect typed letter at the touch of a button, building and auto designs from a com­puter, cash from the bank at any hour andinstant access to thousands of ref­erence sources.
All this comes at a price. Robbery by computer now is the primary white-­collar crime according to some criminologists, and costs society anywhere from $100 million to S3 billion a year. Another problem raised by the use of more computers is the risk of 4.invaded of personal privacy. There is also concern on the part of many workers that their jobs will be taken by 5.computer robots or some other form of automation.

The computer industry can trace its beginning to 1906, when inventor Lee DeForest perfected the three‑element vacuum tube. This device, the triode, made it possible to use one electric current to control the flow of another. From that development, seventy‑six years ago, has 6.evolution a $120‑billion‑a‑year electronics industry that includes everything from laser beams for medicine and industry to guidance systems for weapons and video games.

This business, in which technological discoveries occur with 7. regularly is on its way to becoming a bedrock of the U.S. economy. By the end of the decade, according to some estimates, its sales will rival those of America's basic industries‑steel, autos, and chemicals.

Currently, about 10 percent of all electronic‑products sales are in consumer rather than business ‑oriented, products. But at the rate advances are made in radios, TVs. computers, and telephones, people's lives will be 8.changeable more and more by electronics. For example,
The gradual computerization of the telephone means that in the not­ too‑distant future, a single phone number will be enough to reach a person no matter where in the world he or she is. Or consumers call­ing a firm's single 9.nation number will be routed automatically to the nearest office.

Computers will be essential to the smooth and efficient operation of the home by regulating room temperatures, 10.control lights, and activat­ing security systems. People will be able to use them to leave mes­sages with other households.

Videotex systems will permit people to use television sets, telephones, and computers to shop and pay bills electronically, tap into reference and referral services and take advantage of popular home computer programs such as games and foreign‑language 11.instructor. New York's Chemical Bank has a system that allows users to pay bills and mort­gages by computer.

Parents may be led by their children in computer literacy. Already, at least 173,000 computers are in public schools‑ an average of 2.2 per school and rapid increases are 12.expectation. Also, some colleges now require that new students have their own computers, a trend bound to spread.In short, America is at the beginning of a computer revolution, not only in the business world but also in the home.

1. technological
5. computerised
9. national
2. carried
6. evolved
10. controlling
3. perfectly
7. regularity
11. instruction
4. invasion
8. changed
12. expected