Grammar Exercises: Chapter 11
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Exercise 11.2 (Pages 377–378)
Identify the parts of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction) in the following sentences. Hint: (a) separate the subject from the predicate; (b) identify nouns/pronouns and verbs; (c) look to see if these words are modified by adjectives or adverbs; (d) identify joiners (prepositions and conjunctions). Not all the sentences contain all seven parts of speech.
- The growing reliance on cellphones is creating an addiction in many youth.
- Tokyo is the most populous city in the world, but Shanghai has a larger land mass.
- Undoubtedly, critical thinking requires slow and careful consideration of a problem.
- Everyone has different opinions about the pros and cons of social networking today.
- Thomas King is famous for his humorous characters who encounter challenging situations that often change their lives dramatically.
Answer
- The [adj] growing [adj] reliance [noun] on [pre] cellphones [noun] is creating [verb] an [adj] addiction [noun] in [pre] many [adj] youth [noun].
- Tokyo [noun] is [verb] the [adj] most [adv] populous [adj] city [noun] in [pre] the [adj] world [noun], but [con] Shanghai [noun] has [verb] a [adj] larger [adj] land mass [noun].
- Undoubtedly [adv], critical [adj] thinking [noun] requires [verb] slow [adj] and [con] careful [adj] consideration [noun] of [pre] a [adj] problem [noun].
- Everyone [pro] has [verb] different [adj] opinions [noun] about [pre] the [adj] pros [noun] and [con] cons [noun] of [pre] social [adj] networking [noun] today [adv].
- Thomas King [noun] is [verb] famous [adj] for [pre] his [adj] humorous [adj] characters [noun] who [pro] encounter [verb] challenging [adj] situations [noun] that [pro] often [adv] change [verb] their [adj] lives [noun] dramatically [adv].
Exercise 11.3 (Page 381)
Identify the underlined words as prepositional, noun, verb, or verbal (participial, gerund, infinitive) phrases. If applicable, identify the word(s) they modify or their function.
- In two decades, the gaming industry has grown to rival the movie industry.
- Approximately 245.6 million video games were sold in the US during 2011.
- Having intercepted his opponent, the minister hastily pressed forward with his point.
- Shaking hands confidently and wearing appropriate clothing help create a good first impression at a job interview.
- Bullying is an act of aggression that is intentionally aimed to negatively affect another person.
Answer
- In two decades, the gaming industry has grown to rival the movie industry. [verb phrase]
- Approximately 245.6 million video games were sold in the US during 2011. [prepositional phrase—adverb; prepositional phrase—adverb]
- Having intercepted his opponent, the minister hastily pressed forward with his point. [participial phrase—adjective]
- Shaking hands confidently and wearing appropriate clothing help create a good first impression at a job interview. [noun phrase; noun phrase]
- Bullying is an act of aggression that is intentionally aimed to negatively affect another person. [prepositional phrase—adjective; infinitive noun phrase]
Exercise 11.4 (Page 382)
Underline independent clauses, put parentheses around dependent clauses, and italicize the conjunction or relative pronoun.
- Digital citizenship is a new concept in the digital media field, and it is crucial in forming useful and responsible citizens.
- Businesses will be revitalized by mandatory retirement, as the new and younger generation of employees will increase competitiveness and productivity.
- Recent studies have suggested that music may help brain development in young children.
- Bottled water is often the only option in a country where dirty tap water can carry bacterial diseases.
- Although adult stem cells can be found in the bone marrow of adults, they are not as useful to science as embryonic stem cells.
- The food banks of Canada originated from a single official food bank, which opened in Edmonton to provide emergency relief in the early 1980s. 7) Many more food banks have arisen since then, and they have formed the Canadian Association of Food Banks. 8) This organization fulfills many functions, such as distributing food across the country and keeping a yearly tally of the number of food bank users. 9) There is no standard profile of the stereotypical user, but many are people who have a fixed income, such as seniors and disabled people. 10) Although food banks make valuable contributions to society, they were not created as long-term solutions since they do not provide food security.
Answer
- Digital citizenship is a new concept in the digital media field, and it is crucial in forming useful and responsible citizens.
- Businesses will be revitalized by mandatory retirement, (as the new and younger generation of employees will increase competitiveness and productivity).
- Recent studies have suggested (that music may help brain development in young children).
- Bottled water is often the only option in a country (where dirty tap water can carry bacterial diseases).
- (Although adult stem cells can be found in the bone marrow of adults), they are not as useful to science as embryonic stem cells.
- The food banks of Canada originated from a single official food bank, (which opened in Edmonton to provide emergency relief in the early 1980s). 7) Many more food banks have arisen since then, and they have formed the Canadian Association of Food Banks. 8) This organization fulfills many functions, such as distributing food across the country and keeping a yearly tally of the number of food bank users. 9) There is no standard profile of the stereotypical user, but many are people who have a fixed income, such as seniors and disabled people. 10) (Although food banks make valuable contributions to society), they were not created as long-term solutions (since they do not provide food security).
Exercise 11.5 (Page 385)
Turn the sentence fragments below into grammatical sentences that contain a subject and a predicate and express a complete thought.
- Modern technology has resulted in astonishing benefits for our communities. Though it has created many new problems as well.
- Ignoring the email notification icon on her computer.
- The leading cause of type 2 diabetes? Obesity.
- Many American TV shows have huge audiences in parts of Europe and Asia. Especially comedies like The Simpsons and Family Guy.
- The way young children learn by observing those around them.
Answer
- Modern technology has resulted in astonishing benefits for our communities, though it has created many new problems as well.
- Ignoring the email notification icon on her computer, she worked steadily on.
- The leading cause of type 2 diabetes is obesity.
- Many American TV shows have huge audiences in parts of Europe and Asia—especially comedies like The Simpsons and Family Guy.
- The way young children learn is by observing those around them.
Exercise 11.6 (Page 387)
Identify the sentence error (fragment, run-on sentence, or comma splice). Correct it by adding punctuation if it is an error of joining; if it is a fragment, add information to turn it into a grammatical sentence.
- Companies using animals to test products for human use.
- The 2008 US election marked change, it demonstrated that someone from a visible minority could attain the heights of political power.
- Researchers conducted a study on the amygdala of the brain. Which is involved in aggression.
- Kristallnacht is a German word that means “night of crystal” it owes its name to the shards of broken glass that lined the streets in the wake of the pogrom.
- A fully functional society moves forward, a merely fashionable society stagnates.
- One of Freud’s most famous ideas was the Oedipus complex. Besides being one of his most controversial ones.
- The question of nature versus nurture is a difficult one to answer. Since aggression cannot be proven to be caused entirely by the environment or by genes.
- It is not only schools that need to enforce reasonable discipline, parents need to as well.
- The definition of family is changing. Due to cultural, social, and legal factors.
- The long-term effects of playing video games are still unknown, this is a significant concern for many of today’s parents.
Answer
- Companies using animals to test products for human use are criticized by animal activists. [fragment]
- The 2008 US election marked change; it demonstrated that someone from a visible minority could attain the heights of political power. [comma splice]
- Researchers conducted a study on the amygdala of the brain, which is involved in aggression. [fragment]
- Kristallnacht is a German word that means “night of crystal”; it owes its name to the shards of broken glass that lined the streets in the wake of the pogrom. [run-on sentence]
- A fully functional society moves forward; a merely fashionable society stagnates. [comma splice]
- One of Freud’s most famous ideas was the Oedipus complex (besides being one of his most controversial ones). [fragment]
- The question of nature versus nurture is a difficult one to answer since aggression cannot be proven to be caused entirely by the environment or by genes. [fragment]
- It is not only schools that need to enforce reasonable discipline: parents need to as well. [comma splice]
- The definition of “family” is changing due to cultural, social, and legal factors. [fragment]
- The long-term effects of playing video games are still unknown; this is a significant concern for many of today’s parents. [comma splice]
