3 Preventing confusion
To avoid confusing the reader, it is important to use reference words only when the reference
is clear. For example:
The company was founded in 1953 and bought the mine in 1957. It was successful at first...
In this case, it is not clear which noun (the company or the mine) ‘It’ refers to. So to avoid
this, write:
The company was founded in 1953 and bought the mine in 1957.The mine/the latterwas
successful at first...4 Practice B
Read the text below and replace the words in bold with reference words.
102 Part 2: Elements of Writing
VELCRO
Velcro is a fabric fastener used with clothes and shoes. Velcro was invented by a
Swiss engineer called George de Mestral. Mestral’sidea was derived from
studying the tiny hooks found on some plant seeds. The tiny hookscling to
animals and help disperse the seeds. Velcro has two sides, one of which is covered
in small hooks and the other in loops. When the hooks and loopsare pressed
together they form a strong bond.Mestral spent eight years perfecting Mestral’s invention, which Mestralcalled
‘Velcro’ from the French words ‘velour’ and ‘crochet’. The inventionwas patented
in 1955 and today over 60 million metres of Velcro are sold annually.