1. On pg. 163 quiz 18 question #3, Among the
reasons Buffy quit her job were that she was bored, that she had no further
chance of promotion, and she had a better offer in another city.
The book says that the problem is a parallel
construction. I thought that sentence was just worded wrong and it was missing a
lot punctuation. I do not see how the problem in the sentence could be parallel
construction. Am I missing an obvious point?
ANSWER: I BELIEVE GS SIMPLY WANTED YOU TO
<THAT> BEFORE THE THIRD CLAUSE <AND THAT SHE HAD A BETTER
OFFER>.
2. Going on to some questions that I have on Chapter 6 in EM. Section 3 question 14. You must move quickly if you are going to
succeed.
The book says that the function of quickly is
manner, but I thought that it could also be time. Is it possible for that word
to have more than one function?
ANSWER: NO, IN THIS CASE <QUICKLY> IS
MANNER AND TELLS HOW THE ACTION WAS DONE. A TIME ADVERBIAL WOULD BE
<IMMEDIATELY> OR <AS SOON AS POSSIBLE>. MANNER ADVERBIALS ALWAYS
CHANGE THE WAY THE ACTION IS PERFORMED. SO TRY TO VISUALIZE HOW THE ACTION WOULD
CHANGE WHEN YOU CHANGE <QUICKLY> TO <SLOWLY> OR <AWKWARDLY>.
3. EM. CHAP. 6. Section 9 question 9. I was
quite disappointed in my grades.
The books says that quite can be deleted from the sentence and the
sentence can still make sense. I am not arguing that point, but my
question is :Doesn't the sentence lose some of its power if that word is
omitted?
ANSWER: "POWER" IS A MATTER OF STYLE,
NOT GRAMMAR. MOST MTGS WOULD AGREE WITH EM AND CLAIM THAT INTENSIFIERS SUCH AS
'VERY' OR 'QUITE' ACTUALLY WEAKEN THE SENTENCE'S FORCE AND, HENCE, THEY SHOULD
BE AVOIDED OR OMITTED ALTOGETHER. BUT I WANT YOU TO SEE THAT THIS IS NOT A
GRAMMATICAL ISSUE BUT A MATTER OF STYLE.
4. With reference to the TOEFL diagnostic test:
#16-I don't believe "to completely" is
inappropriate even though it is not necessary to use it.
COMMENT: AGAIN, WHEN YOU DO THESE TESTS YOU HAVE
TO PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF THE TEST MAKERS AND GO FOR THE 'BEST' ANSWER,
WHICH USUALLY MEANS THE MOST OBVIOUS. ALSO, WRITE OUT THE ENTIRE QUESTION SO
THAT THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE TEST IN FRONT OF THEM CAN SEE THE SENTENCE.
THE POINT OF THIS QUESTIONS WAS TO HAVE YOU
IDENTIFY THE SPLIT INFINITIVE <TO COMPLETELY FILL>. THE ADVERB
<COMPLETELY> GOES AFTER <FORM>, WHICH MAKES PERFECT LOGICAL AS WELL
AS GRAMMATICAL SENSE, AT LEAST IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.
5. #47-Why isn't "their" appropriate?
COMMENT: AGAIN, WHEN YOU DO THESE TESTS YOU HAVE
TO PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF THE TEST MAKERS AND GO FOR THE 'BEST' ANSWER,
WHICH USUALLY MEANS THE MOST OBVIOUS ANSWER
<EVERYBODY> IS SINGULAR SO <THEIR>
SHOULD BE SINGULAR. I WOULD NOT MARK THIS OFF MYSELF BUT I KNOW WHAT THIS TEST
IS ASKING FOR: NUMBER AGREEMENT.
ALSO, PLEASE WRITE OUT THE ENTIRE QUESTION SO
THAT THOSE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE TEST IN FRONT OF THEM CAN SEE THE SENTENCE.
6. In quiz #20, p.165, in GS, they are asking
only for the subject, which is the main noun doing the action of the main verb.
In EM, "subject" is defined in more general terms. In quiz #20, two
subjects are referenced in the first four sentences, but I had always thought
there is only one subject per sentence, and it is dependent on the main verb? Is
there more than one subject in compound sentences?
ANSWER: OK, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THINGS GOING
ON HERE. FIRST OF ALL, LET'S DELETE THE COMMENT ABOUT EM SINCE IT DOESN'T HAVE
ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS QUESTION.
SECOND, THERE IS NO RULE THAT I KNOW OF THAT
STATES THAT THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE SUBJECT IN A SENTENCE. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE MAIN VERB AND THE SUBJECT, BUT ONE THAT LIMITS THE NUMBER OF SUBJECT
NOUNS. THIS CAN BE SEEN IN THE FOLLOWING:
THIRD, I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY
<COMPOUND SENTENCE>. A COMPOUND SENTENCE IS DEFINED AS TWO INDEPENDENT
CLAUSES JOINED BY A CO-ORDINATING CONJUNCTION. <EM>
BY DEFINITION, ALL COMPOUND SENTENCES HAVE MORE
THAN ONE SUBJECT AND MORE THAN ONE MAIN VERB.
IN GS EXERCISE SET 20 ON P. 165, THERE ARE NO
COMPOUND SENTENCES. HOWEVER, FOUR OF THEM (1-4) ARE <COMPLEX SENTENCES>,
WHICH, ACCORDING TO EM, HAVE ONE INDEPENDENT CLAUSE AND ONE OR MORE DEPENDENT
CLAUSES. EACH CLAUSE HAS ONE OR MORE SUBJECT NOUNS AND ONE OR MORE MAIN VERBS.
7. In EM, CHAP. 6, exercise #7, #3, "As
always" is not included as an adverbial clause in the answer key. Was this
an oversight?
ANSWER: NO. <AS ALWAYS> IS NOT, BY
DEFINITION, A CLAUSE.
8. Also in #8, the answer key indicates that the
adverbial clause functions as a condition. Doesn't this really function as a
concession?
ANSWER: YES. USING THE BOOK'S OWN EXAMPLES ON P.
122 AND LOOKING AT THE LOGIC OF THE SENTENCE ITSELF, THIS CLAUSE SHOULD BE
CONCESSIONAL. THE KEY IS INCORRECT. GOOD.
**********************
NOTE TO ALL USAGE STUDENTS: PLEASE REWRITE THE
ENTIRE SAMPLE SENTENCE WHEN ASKING QUESTIONS. IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THOSE IN THE
EDITING AND ANALYSIS GROUPS TO FOLLOW THESE ANSWERS IF YOU DON'T DO SO.
ALSO, ASK ONE QUESTION AT A TIME AND PLEASE TRY
TO BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE. THIS WAY YOU WILL RECEIVE A CLEARER ANSWER TO
YOUR QUESTION.
REMEMBER: ONE OF THE PRIMARY REASONS FOR THESE HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS IS TO TEACH YOU HOW TO IDENTIFY PROBLEM AREAS ON YOUR OWN AND FORMULATE CLEAR QUESTIONS.