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in the text. Besides pronouns, almost all other parts of speech can be used as reference words. Usually these words follow closely the parts they refer to, but sometimes they appear far from the mentioned parts. Students should be able to identify the coreference, and, if necessary, they should be asked to search the adjacent text until they find the required referents. Here are some examples: A. He gave her a letter. This gave her food for thought. What made her think : the letter, or the fact that he gave it? B. They all said the same. The same as who, or what? C. Perforated ceilings and plenums above same are equipped to make every room well - ventilated The pronoun “same” refers to what? D Therefore, confidences result in dishonor, and they are as dangerous for the person to whom they are made as they are for the person who makes them.. What do the pronouns “they” “them” “who” “whom” stand for? Dislike of needless repetition is the reason why the reference and substitution systems are used. For the same reason, a writer likes to omit rather than repeat certain kinds of information that he thinks a reader’s common sense can readily supply from the context. This omission is called ellipsis To deal with ellipsis, students must be aware that the information is incomplete and that they are able to retrieve what is left unsaid. Able students will resort to their non-visual knowledge and grammatical analysis to tackle the problem. But to a weak student, he may have trouble with the following two example sentences: A. He told us where it was hidden and despite the disapproving glances of the others promised to show us the way. B. The main point made by the first speaker and the man who followed him on the panel coincided. Who promised to show us the way in sentence A? And what coincided in sentence B? The students could be asked to repair the omissions. 3.4 Different ways of thinking and expression Chinese people and English native speakers have different ways of thinking and modes of expression, owing to their respective and unique social practice and geographic environments. In this connection arise the problems in our students’ comprehension of their English texts: because we don’t have their experiences, we don’t know what it means, not only linguistically, but also emotionally and cognitively. A case in point is the English way of negation. We often come across the statements which are affirmative in form but negative in content, or vice versa. “I know better” means” I don’t think so”, while” I couldn’t feel better” is understood as “I’m feeling great”. The following two sentences may also puzzle the Chinese readers: You could have come at a better time. I hope you’re none the worse for that fall from your horse. To Chinese students, English speaking people have a peculiar way of negation in the above two sentences. In my class only efficient readers can understand the first sentence as “You have come at a wrong time” and the second one as “I hope you didn’t hurt by the fall from your horse.” Ambiguity sometimes arises when Chinese people and English speaking people look at things at different angles. Look at these sentences: I was sitting behind a pint. He was not the eldest son of his father for nothing. In my class, not all students can understand the first sentence as “I was drinking beer” and the second one as “He was a capable eldest son of his fathe