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3.3 Word Reading Strategies - Prexes, Roots and Sufxes

Exercise
Read the texts below. Use appendices 5 and 6. What do the highlighted words mean?
1 Electromagnetic radiation (often abbreviated E-M radiation or EMR) is a
phenomenon that takes the form of self-propagating waves in a vacuum or in
matter. It consists of electric and magnetic eld components which oscillate in
phase perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to the direction of energy
propagation. Electromagnetic radiation is classied into several types according
to the frequency of its wave; these types include (in order of increasing
frequency and decreasing wavelength): radio waves, microwaves, terahertz
radiation, infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays and
gamma rays. A small and somewhat variable window of frequencies is sensed
by the eyes of various organisms; this is what is called the visible spectrum, or
light.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
components
terahertz
infrared
ultraviolet
2 The blood vessels are the part of the circulatory system that transport blood
throughout the body. There are three major types of blood vessels: the arteries,
which carry the blood away from the heart; the capillaries, which enable the
actual exchange of water and chemicals between the blood and the tissues;
and the veins, which carry blood from the capillaries back towards the heart.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
circulatory
transport
enable
exchange
3 Waste management is the collection, transport, processing, recycling or
disposal, and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to
materials produced by human activity, and is generally undertaken to reduce
their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics. Waste management is also
carried out to recover resources from it. Waste management can involve solid,
liquid, gaseous or radioactive substances, with different methods and elds of
expertise for each.
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Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
recycling
disposal
reduce
resources
4 Animals are a major group of mostly multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of
the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes xed as
they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on
in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously
and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest
other organisms for sustenance.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
multicellular
metamorphosis
motile
spontaneously
5 Since the water molecule is not linear and the oxygen atom has a higher
electronegativity than hydrogen atoms, it carries a slight negative charge,
whereas the hydrogen atoms are slightly positive. As a result, water is a polar
molecule with an electrical dipole moment. The net interactions between the
dipoles on each molecule cause an effective skin effect at the interface of water
with other substances, or air at the surface, the latter given rise to waters high
surface tension. This dipolar nature contributes to water molecules tendency to
form hydrogen bonds which cause waters many special properties. The polar
nature also favors adhesion to other materials.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
linear
electronegativity
dipole
polar
6 Bioinformatics is the application of information technology and computer
science to the eld of molecular biology. The term bioinformatics was coined
by Paulien Hogeweg in 1979 for the study of informatic processes in biotic
systems. Its primary use since at least the late 1980s has been in genomics
and genetics, particularly in those areas of genomics involving large-scale
DNA sequencing. Bioinformatics now entails the creation and advancement of
databases, algorithms, computational and statistical techniques, and theory to
solve formal and practical problems arising from the management and analysis
of biological data.
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Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
bioinformatics
biotic
genomics
genetics
7 Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social
interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior.
These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information
processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect
and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. The two other autism
spectrum disorders (ASD) are Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in
cognitive development and language, and PDD-NOS, diagnosed when full
criteria for the other two disorders are not met.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
autism
disorder
interaction
cognitive
8 Insects (from Latin: insectum, translation of Greek: entomon - threaded) are
a class within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-
part body (head, thorax, and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, compound
eyes, and two antennae. They are among the most diverse group of animals
on the planet and include more than a million described species and represent
more than half of all known living organisms. The number of extant species is
estimated at between six and ten million, and potentially represent over 90%
of the differing metazoan life forms on Earth. Insects may be found in nearly all
environments, although only a small number of species occur in the oceans, a
habitat dominated by another arthropod group, the crustaceans.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
arthropod
exoskeleton
antennae
crustacean
9 Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to
prepare small molecules to almost any structure. These methods are used today
to manufacture a wide variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or
commercial polymers. This ability raises the question of extending this kind
of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods to assemble these single
molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many molecules
arranged in a well dened manner.
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Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
synthetic
manufacture
polymer
supramolecular
10 Cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the
transformed cells. These abnormalities may be due to the effects of
carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents.
Other cancer-promoting genetic abnormalities may randomly occur through
errors in DNA replication, or are inherited, and thus present in all cells from
birth. The heritability of cancers is usually affected by complex interactions
between carcinogens and the hosts genome.
Word Prexes, Roots, Sufxes Meaning
abnormailities
transformed
complex
interactions