© 2016 Sidney Greenbaum and Gerald Nelson

Answers to questions in the book: Chapter 6

**[No answers provided for the exercises in this chapter]

Exercise 6.1 End-focus (section 6.2)

Rewrite the sentences so that the underlined part is placed in the emphatic end position.

1. No other nation in the world consumes more oil than the United States.

2. That car belongs to my sister.

3. It is easy to underestimate Peter.

4. Susan and Martha are similar in their temperaments.

5. Serious malnutrition affects more than a third of the people in the world.

6. The whole class was interested in the lecture on the origins of English words.

7. Rats were crawling all over the building.

8. The government’s tax policy benefits the wealthy most of all.

9. A drink of water was all they wanted.

10. The village was surrounded by soldiers.

Exercise 6.2 Front-focus (section 6.3)

Put the underlined part of each sentence in front of the subject to give it strong emphasis.

1. The soil no longer has to be rested every three or four years to regain its natural fertility.

2. They must sign, or they will not be freed.

3. They not only consult doctors more frequently, but they do so about more minor problems.

4. He rejected the treatment only after thorough investigation.

5. Though they may be reluctant, they will accept the task.

6. The greatest difficulty we had was raising sufficient funds to staff the shelter for the homeless.

7. A great storm came from the north.

8. I emailed her several times last week.

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Exercise 6.3 Parenthetic expressions (section 6.5)

An adverbial is given in brackets at the end of each sentence. Rewrite each sentence, inserting the

adverbial in an appropriate place and punctuating it with commas. More than one place may be

appropriate.

1. The committee was not as docile as the chairman expected. (as it happens)

2. Heart disease was the principal cause of death. (however)

3. That woman is not the person you should try to contact. (in fact)

4. You should make every effort to perform your duties to the best of your ability. (nevertheless)

5. The car is beyond repair and should be scrapped. (probably)

6. This version of the manuscript illustrates the originality of the author’s ideas. (for instance)

Exercise 6.4 End-weight (section 6.6)

Rewrite the sentences by making the predicate longer than the underlined subject.

1. An open letter beseeching the all-male College of Cardinals to incorporate women into the

election of the Pope was issued.

2. A statue of the statesman holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other stood at the

entrance.

3. The provocative thought that the bureaucracy is a public service for the benefit of citizens is

offered.

4. Public health officials, social workers, police, civil liberties lawyers, and even divorce lawyers

distract teachers from their teaching.

5. To do whatever can be done to motivate students to improve their reading and writing skills is

necessary.

6. Saving a little money every month in a building society that offers high interest rates is a good

idea.

7. Good computer skills, excellent interpersonal skills, and the ability to manage your time

effectively are required.

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8. The idea that some local people collaborated with the Japanese during the occupation of the

island is very convincingly refuted by this research.

Exercise 6.5 Misplaced expressions (section 6.7)

Rewrite each sentence to avoid the misplaced constructions that are underlined. If the sentence is

ambiguous, give two versions – one for each interpretation.

1. Brian asked how she was getting on quite routinely.

2. He chased a burglar with a shotgun.

3. The book is clearly written for children.

4. The doctor advised her on every occasion to take sedatives.

5. They claimed when they were young they had very little money.

6. Drinking normally made him happy.

7. Exercising frequently prolongs one’s life.

8. He said that he would visit us many times.

Exercise 6.6 Parallelism (section 6.11)

Correct the faulty parallelism in the sentences.

1. At present we know enough neither about animals nor ourselves to make categorical statements

on the nature of human communication.

2. You will find considerable difference between the paragraphs of deaf children compared to

hearing children.

3. His shoulder bag contained a pipe, a tobacco pouch, address book, and a calculator.

4. He either smokes cigars or cigarettes, but I cannot remember which.

5. The special effects in recent films are more spectacular than early films.

Exercise 6.7 Repeated sounds (section 6.12)

Rewrite the sentences to avoid unnecessary repetition of sounds or words with different meanings.

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1. The audience was noisy at first, but later it became quite quiet.

2. The government has not yet decided on the form that the formal inquiry will take.

3. My intention is to pay more attention in the future to my children.

4. I find that trying to find where a class is being held can be frustrating.

5. What I like best is a movie like The Godfather.

6. They subjected the subject to a series of tests.

Exercise 6.8 Pronoun reference (section 6.13)

Rewrite each sentence so that the reference to an antecedent is clear.

1. Experience shows that when abortion laws are liberalized, they sky-rocket.

2. The old man told his son that he was not allowed to smoke.

3. The teachers made the students put their names on the top of each sheet.

4. Protestors released live cockroaches in the chamber, and they were promptly arrested.

5. When the plane struck the helicopter, it went into a nose-dive.

6. John arranged to meet Paul after his graduation.

7. Amy sat down beside Joan and drank her milkshake.

8. If your eye falls on a bargain, pick it up.

Exercise 6.9 Pronoun agreement (section 6.14)

Rewrite each sentence to eliminate inconsistencies in pronouns.

1. If one is conscientious, they will do well in life.

2. If one can speak the language fluently, you can negotiate a better price.

3. You should try a British pale ale. They’re quite good.

4. We should strive to get the best education possible. You can then be sure that you will have a

satisfying life.

5. Trying one’s hardest to get in good shape can ruin your health if you’re not careful.

6. The X300 comes with a dual-core processor. They give unrivalled performance.

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Exercise 6.10 Tense consistency (section 6.15)

Rewrite each sentence to remove inconsistencies in tenses.

1. The spheres rotate and sent out streams of light in every direction.

2. Once she knows a better way to study, she would feel much better.

3. After I spoke to the contractor, but before I sign any forms, I would ask for references.

4. Even though I had done all the work, I still do poorly in examinations.

5. If you enjoy horror movies, you would love Fright Night II.

6. We’ve been here for four days and still didn’t see a friendly face.

ADVANCED EXERCISES

Exercise 6.11 Emphasis (sections 6.2–6.3)

Rewrite the following paragraph to achieve a better arrangement of information.

People listened to my programme in their cars on their way to work. They either loved it or

loathed it. It followed the Today programme so it had a biggish audience (in radio terms). I got

a letter from a regular BBC correspondent who said he always turned the radio off immediately

if it was my turn on the programme. However, he would like to take issue with something I had

said last week. I once had a fan letter from Tony Blair saying what a good way it was to start

Monday morning.

Exercise 6.12 Subordination (section 6.10)

Rewrite the sentence to make it clearer.

In the United States public confidence in airline safety has been undermined as a result of the

terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and due to the fact that lapses in airport security

have resulted in a substantial number of reports that have shown that the airlines have

committed numerous violations, which officials in the Federal Aviation Administration think is

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the result of the deregulation of airlines and which many other experts in the field of airline

safety believe will continue to occur until new laws are passed by Congress.

Exercise 6.13 Clarity (section 6.6–6.13)

Newspaper headlines are sometimes unintentionally funny. Rewrite the headlines to make the intended

meaning clearer.

1. Red tape holds up new school.

2. Juvenile Court to try shooting defendant.

3. March planned for next August.

4. Passengers hit by cancelled trains.

5. New York ban on boxing after death.

6. Stolen painting found by tree.

7. Kids make nutritious snacks.

8. Star’s broken leg hits box office.

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