Chapter 8

Exercise 8.1 Sentence fragments and fragmentary sentences (8.2)

The paragraph below contains many sentence fragments and fragmentary sentences. Re-punctuate the paragraph to remove the sentence fragments and fragmentary sentences.

Question 1

Rajiv found it frustrating. That his policies made little impact on poverty. Any number of good ideas and endless quantities of money did not seem to him to be having much effect. It is a frustration which reveals itself. When he is asked how piloting a nation compares with piloting a plane. A question he has been asked dozens of times by way of reply. Rajiv invariably complains of the slow response time or inertia in 'piloting the nation'. There is so much free play in the controls that you can almost shake them at one end and nothing happens at the other end. Is how he once put it in a BBC interview. Even for an experienced airline pilot with the right instincts and ideas. The challenge of piloting a nation like India into the twenty-first century is a daunting one.

Exercise 8.2 Run-on sentences and comma splices (8.3)

Correct errors in run-on sentences and comma splices.

Question 1

Let me pose the real problem, the senior management of the BBC has been subsidising two dismal personalities at enormous public expense.

Question 2

The problem is not one of errors of judgement but of faults of character.

Question 3

No one is convicted on the evidence of an expert witness alone, the whole point of the adversarial system of justice is that the evidence should be tested.

Question 4

Health is not the only desideratum of human existence, if it were, hundreds of activities ought to be banned.

Question 5

She felt his loss deeply, however we cannot dwell for long on the feelings of a woman in mourning.

Exercise 8.3 Direct speech (8.5)

Insert quotation marks where necessary.

Question 1

Get on with it then, he said through gritted teeth.

Question 2

You, I think, ought to be aware of the situation.

Question 3

Why, asked Blake, are you here?

Question 4

You will, you know, make many friends.

Question 5

Aloud she said: I don't know what it's like to be husband-less but I can imagine.

Exercise 8.4 Questions (8.7)

Eliminate incorrect or unnecessary question marks in the sentences below.

Question 1

He asked me how I was?

Question 2

I wonder where he could be?

Question 3

I can't remember where I left my tickets?

Question 4

Do you know where Upton Park is.

Question 5

Alright, mate?

Exercise 8.5 Restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses (8.8)

Leave the restrictive appositives below unpunctuated. Punctuate the nonrestrictive appositives with commas.

Question 1

T.S. Eliot, who received a Nobel Prize in 1948 was born in 1888.

Question 2

Eva found the book, that she had been looking for.

Question 3

The trade union representative who was also a computer programmer, had a busy morning.

Question 4

She drove me to the railway station which was nice.

Question 5

My train which I half expected to be late was right on time.

Exercise 8.6 Vocatives and interjections (8.11)

Punctuate the vocatives and interjections in the sentences below.

Question 1

You gave it to her Dad.

Question 2

You know my friend John.

Question 3

Well um she just wouldn't.

Question 4

Oh hello Dr. Carson.

Question 5

Naomi you can take your pick.

Exercise 8.7 Genitives of nouns; genitives of pronouns (8.13-14)

Change the of-phrase into a genitive construction.

Question 1

The mink coat of the queen of Spain.

Question 2

The pointy hat of the witch.

Question 3

The badge of the sheriff.

Question 4

The silence of the sisters.

Question 5

The children of Adam and Eve.

Exercise 8.8 Genitives of nouns; genitives of pronouns (8.13-14)

Insert apostrophes where necessary. Some sentences may not require an apostrophe.

Question 1

You're wrong, this doormat is ours.

Question 2

The towns swimming pool has been cleaned.

Question 3

The teams fans turned up in droves.

Question 4

You can't really predict the others point of view.

Question 5

The councils decision is final.

Exercise 8.9 Punctuation (Chapter 8)

Each item has one punctuation error. The error may be wrong punctuation or the absence of a punctuation mark. Correct the error in each item.

Question 1

Census records filled in the next piece of the puzzle, they are only opened after a century has elapsed.

Question 2

He did little more than defend his province ensure the collection of the taxes and decide the most important criminal and civil cases.

Question 3

This was the right period. Since it would have made her just a year younger than Vincent. But it was the wrong Christian name.

Question 4

For those without other means of support, there remained the Poor Law, all the inhabitants suffered further from inflation and rising prices.

Question 5

She had been sustained only by the tension and the hope by the reawakening of a dream she had never dared let die for twenty years; that her baby lived.

Exercise 8.10 Punctuation (Chapter 8)

Punctuate the following passage, and change lower case letters to upper case where necessary.

Question 1

Social workers need more training and support lord laming has said in his review of child protection services in England entering the profession now requires the same level of dedication as becoming a teacher courses are approved and regulated by the general social care council for england which says it feels the newer degree has already raised the status of the profession but more could be done its chair rosie varley said lord lamings recommendations would have a significant impact on raising standards in social work the GSCC encourages social workers to continue their training and says employers really must bear the responsibility for allowing them the time there is a code of practice for social work employers but up until now it has not been mandatory something which Lord Laming wants to change.