2. REPORT
SOCIAL FUNCTION :
To describe the way things are, with reference to a range
of natural, man-made and social phenomena in our
environment
3. SUB-TYPES OF REPORT TEXT
1. DESCRIPTIVE REPORT
2. TAXONOMIC REPORT
3. CONTRAST / COMPARE REPORT
4. HISTORICAL REPORT
4. GENERIC STRUCTURE
General Classification : tells what the phenomenon
under discussion is.
Description : parts, qualities, habits or behaviors, if
living; uses, if non-natural.
5. Focus on generic participants
Use of Relational Processes to state
what is and that which it is.
Use of simple present tense (unless
extinct).
No temporal sequence.
6. REPORT TEXT
ELEPHANTS
Elephants are the largest land animals in the
world. Elephants are mammals. They have several
distinctive features aside from their large side. Their
long trunk is used for breathing, smelling, touching,
feeding, drinking, lifting heavy objects, and
trumpeting. No other animal has a nose with so
many uses.
Elephants are equally remarkable for their
tusks. They are enormously long teeth that continue
to grow throughout the elephant’s life. They are
made of bony material called ivory. Elephants have
always been hunted for their tusks. The ivory is
carved or shaped into sculptures, ornaments, and
decoration.
7. Adult elephants have little hair on their thick,
wrinkled skin, but their tails are tipped with wiry
hair, and their eyelashes can be over 12 cm long.
Elephants need a great deal of food. A big male
may eat up to 225 kg of plant material, such as
leaves, bark, fruit, and grasses, a day, and drink
between 75 – 150 l of water.
Most elephants live in herds of 10 to 50 animals.
The female carries her unborn young for 20 to 22
months before birth, the longest period for any
mammal. Several females usually help the mother
with the baby during and after birth. The baby
needs nursing for two or more years. An elephant
can live 60 or 70 years.
Elephants have been tamed and used to serve
the needs of people for at least 5,000 years. Their
size and strength have been used to lift heavy
objects, carry heavy loads, and even lead armies
into battle. Killing elephants for their tusks is now
forbidden, but illegal hunting still takes place. Also,
human settlement leaves elephants with less space
to roam.
8. Dogs are members of the Canidae family of mammals. Most of them
are good runners, with muscular, deep-chested bodies and slender
legs.
They have four toes on each paw, plus a thumblike
toe on each forepaw and sometimes on the rear feet as well. They
walk on their toes, which are well padded. Dogs have 42 teeth – some
for gripping and tearing flesh, some for cutting, and others for
grinding food.
Dogs have superb hearing and fairly good eyesight,
but their keenest sense is smell, which can detect the faintest scent
days or even weeks after its source has gone. Dogs use their voices
regularly. They bark to raise an alarm, to show aggression or fear, or
as a cry for help. Growling usually means “stay away” or “I’m going to
bite”. They may also howl, whimper, or whine to show their feelings.
The dogs we know as pets are descended from
wolves. They were domesticated, or tamed and raised by people,
more than 12,000 years ago. Today dogs depend on people for food,
shelter, and safety. They give a great deal in return. Some are trained
to guard property. Others herd farm animals, work with hunters,
sniff out bombs or drugs at airports, or search for survivors at disaster
scenes. Specially trained dogs assist people who cannot see or hear, or
who use a wheelchair.
9. Snakes are long, slender reptiles without legs.
They do not have movable eyelids, which gives them a glassy,
unblinking stare. Most of them live in the warmer parts of the
world, although some, such as the rattlesnake, are found as far
north as the Artic Circle.
Snakes have two main methods of killing their
prey – constriction and poisoning. Constrictors coil around
their prey and suffocate it. Venomous snakes produce venom in
special glands and inject it into the victim through a grooved or
hollow fang.
Many people think that snakes have slimy skins.
However, a snake, like most reptiles, is dry to touch. A snake’s
skin does not grow with the animal and has to be shed at
regular intervals.
Snakes are often hunted for their attractively patterned
skins, which are made into purses, shoes, and belts. They are
also captured for the pet and zoo trade.
10. Snakes are long, slender reptiles without legs.
They do not have movable eyelids, which gives them a glassy,
unblinking stare. Most of them live in the warmer parts of the
world, although some, such as the rattlesnake, are found as far
north as the Artic Circle.
Snakes have two main methods of killing their
prey – constriction and poisoning. Constrictors coil around
their prey and suffocate it. Venomous snakes produce venom in
special glands and inject it into the victim through a grooved or
hollow fang.
Many people think that snakes have slimy skins.
However, a snake, like most reptiles, is dry to touch. A snake’s
skin does not grow with the animal and has to be shed at
regular intervals.
Snakes are often hunted for their attractively patterned
skins, which are made into purses, shoes, and belts. They are
also captured for the pet and zoo trade.
