Theme-Rheme Analysis Introduction and initial Practice Text 1 The numbat The numbat is a slender marsupial mammal with

a pointed muzzle and short erect ears. Its coat is grey-brown to reddish brown, with about eight transverse white stripes on the rump. The eye has a black stripe through it and the long bushy tail is yellowish. The teeth are small. The tongue is extensible, as in all mammalian ant- or termite eaters, and the forefeet are strong-clawed for digging. Most marsupials are active during the night. The numbat is different in being active during the day. It shelters in hollow logs and forages for termites. This termite-eater was once relatively common, but regrettably now lives in a small area of South Western South Australia. It is the official animal emblem of Western Australia. Text 2 Animal testing may be necessary, but we need to be merciful Regrettably, millions of animals undergo painful suffering or death every year as a result of scientific research. While most people think animal testing is necessary, others are upset by what they see as needless suffering. This essay looks at some of the positive and negative aspects of animal testing. Many medical treatments and procedures have been developed from experiments on animals. Since animals share many features with humans, often scientists test the safety and effectiveness of newly developed drugs on animals before they undertake pilot testing on small groups of patients. Medical teams practice new operating techniques such as transplants on animals. If there was no animal testing, most probably many procedures or new drugs would be extremely unsafe. However, understandably enough many people are concerned that animals are suffering unnecessarily and cruelly. They do not believe that every new drug needs to be tested on animals. Besides, they are worried that many animal tests are ineffective. Indeed, many drugs have had to be withdrawn from the market despite extensive testing. They particularly feel that animal testing should not be used for non-essential products such as cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, and cleaning products. Furthermore, some campaigners would like to see certain tests replaced and more humane methods used. Doubtless, we need to ensure that the millions of animals who are used for testing new products are treated with the minimum of suffering. Although some animal testing may be unavoidable at present, treating our fellow creatures as mercifully as possible will demonstrate our humanity.

Text 3 Different levels of government (school report) In Australia there are three levels of government: the federal government, state governments and local governments. All of these levels of government are necessary for a number of reasons. First, the federal government is necessary for the big things. They keep the economy in order and they look after things like defence. Similarly, the state governments look after the middle-sized things. For example, they look after law and order. Finally, local governments look after the small things. They look after things like collecting rubbish, otherwise everyone would have diseases. Thus, for the reasons above, we can conclude that the three levels of government are necessary. Text 4 The nature of the US participation in the two world wars The nature of the US participation in WW I was fundamentally different from what it became in World War II. The earlier conflict was a one-ocean war for the Navy and a one theatre war for the Army; the latter was a two-ocean war for the Navy and one of five major theatres for the Army. In both wars a major responsibility of the Navy was escort-of-convoy and anti-submarine work, but in the 1917-1919 conflict it never clashed with the enemy on the surface; whilst between 1941-1945 it fought some twenty major and countless minor engagements with the Japanese Navy. American soldiers who engaged in World War I were taken overseas in transports and landed on docks or in protected harbours; in World War II the art of amphibious warfare had to be revived and developed, Airpower, in the early conflict, was still inchoate and almost negligible; in the latter it was a determining factor. In World War I the battleship still reigned queen of the sea, as she had in changing forms, since the age of Drake. Battle Line was fought with tactics inherited from the age of sail; but in World War II the capital naval force was the air-craft carrier task group, for which completely new tactics had to be devised (Morrison, S. E. 1963: The two ocean war. Boston: Little Brown)