Beginning writing 2 part 4

18
Beginning Writing 2
• Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com
NAME DATE
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1. _____ When the runners near Boston, the
scenery changes from rural to urban.
2. _____ The race ends in Boston’s Back Bay.
3. _____ The course, which runs up and
down hills, peaks at Heartbreak Hill.
4. _____ Most runners, hoping just to finish
“The Boston,” don’t expect to win the
great race.
a. prepositional
phrase
b. descriptive phrase
with -ing verb
c. adjective clause
d. adverbial clause
GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH SENTENCES: Q
UIZ
Y
OURSELF

ON
S
ENTENCES
I
A.
Underline only the complete sentences.
1. The Boston Marathon takes place in April.

2. Runners from around the world.
3. Tackle a 26.2-mile course from Hopkinton,
Massachusetts to Boston.
4. The racers set off for Boston at noon.
5. There is a wheelchair division for
physically challenged racers.
B.
Write S by each simple sentence. Write C by each compound sentence.
1. _____ The marathon course winds through countryside and small towns.
2. _____ Marathon rules appear in many sports magazines, or interested
athletes can check the Internet.
3. _____ It takes hard work to qualify for the marathon, and most runners
spend years training.
4. _____ In 1897, 15 men raced a 24.5-mile course in the first Boston
Marathon.
5. _____ In 2000, the course was 26.2 miles long, and more than 16,000
men and women ran the race.
C.
Write a letter to match each boldface word group with its description.
Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com •
Beginning Writing 2
19
NAME DATE
 
IMPROVING SENTENCES: R
EPAIRING
F
RAGMENTS
A fragment is incomplete; it cannot stand on
its own as a sentence. A fragment is usually

missing either a subject or a verb.
A.
Write a checkmark to tell why each
item below is a fragment.
1. Following the row of lights.
2. The bird with the bent beak.
3. Copied word for word in his report.
4. When we opened the ticking box.
5. Then, opening the ticking box.
B.
Repair the sentence fragments. Either turn them into separate, complete
sentences or join them to make one sentence.
1. On her first solo drive, Ann’s car broke down. Right in the middle
of the intersection.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2. Tyrone takes two after-school classes. Piano and self-defense.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3. I finally found my homework in the refrigerator. A very odd place.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4. Vince’s boss sent him to the storeroom. And asked him to bring back a
box of napkins.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5. Over by the fire. It’s a good place to dry your wet clothing.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
MISSING

A
SUBJECT
MISSING

A
PREDICATE
HAS

A

SUBJECT
AND

PREDICATE

BUT
CAN
’
T

STAND

ALONE
20
Beginning Writing 2
• Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com
NAME DATE
 
IMPROVING SENTENCES: R

EPAIRING
R
UN
-O
NS
A run-on sentence incorrectly contains two or more sentences.
Writers can repair run-ons in two ways.
(1) They can split a run-on into separate sentences.
R
UN
-
ON
: Jackie Robinson was a great athlete he was the first
African-American to play major league baseball.
C
ORRECTLY

SEPARATED

SENTENCES
: Jackie Robinson was a great athlete.
He was the first African-American to play major league baseball.
(2) Complete sentences
within
a run-on can be combined into one sentence.
C
ORRECTLY

COMBINED

SENTENCES
: Jackie Robinson, a great athlete, was
the first African-American to play major league baseball.
O
R
:

Jackie Robinson was a great athlete, and he was the first
African-American to play major league baseball.
Repair each run-on sentence in two ways. First, split the run-on into two
separate sentences. Then combine the ideas correctly by writing a compound
sentence or by using a phrase or clause. The first one has been done for you.
1.
RUN-ON:
Lady Bird Johnson was the wife of President Lyndon Johnson she
was a first lady with an unusual name.
SEPARATED SENTENCES:
__________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
COMBINED SENTENCE:
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2.
RUN-ON:
Hiram Revels was the first African-American U.S. senator he was
elected in Mississippi in 1870.
SEPARATED SENTENCES:
__________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
COMBINED SENTENCE:

____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3.
RUN-ON:
Jonas Salk defeated a terrible disease he developed a polio vaccine.
SEPARATED SENTENCES:
__________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
COMBINED SENTENCE:
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Lady Bird Johnson was the wife of President
Lyndon Johnson. She was a first lady with an unusual name.
Lady Bird Johnson, a first lady with an unusual
name, was the wife of President Lyndon Johnson.
Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com •
Beginning Writing 2
21
NAME DATE
 
IMPROVING SENTENCES: M
AKING
C
ONNECTIONS
/
C
OMBINING
S
ENTENCES
Add interest and rhythm to your writing by varying the length of your sentences.

A.
Combine each pair of sentences into one longer sentence. Use the
method shown in parentheses.
1.
(W
RITE

A

COMPOUND

SENTENCE
.)
Stumpy was a little dog. He thought he was big.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
2.
(U
SE

A

PREPOSITIONAL

PHRASE
.)
Little Stumpy growled. He growled at big dogs.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
3.

(U
SE

AN

ADJECTIVE

CLAUSE
.)
Our dog Stumpy was smaller than most cats.
He picked fights with the neighbor’s St. Bernard.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
4.
(U
SE

AN

ADVERBIAL

CLAUSE
.)
Stumpy would bare his teeth. He’d do this
before he attacked.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
5.
(U
SE

A

DESCRIPTIVE

PHRASE
.)
Stumpy had a bad attitude. Stumpy was a toy poodle.
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
B.
The paragraph below contains many short, choppy sentences.
Rewrite the paragraph on the back of this sheet. Combine some
of the short sentences to create a better rhythm.
THE GHOST SHIP
A Japanese legend tells of a mysterious ship. It usually appears around
midnight. Fishermen see it sailing. It is sailing against the wind. They say
the ship’s sails are torn. They say the mast is broken. The railings are
missing. There are people on deck. They are wailing. Their voices do not
sound human. The boat appears quickly. It disappears quickly. It is a ghost
ship. It sails the midnight seas. It has sailed the seas for centuries.
22
Beginning Writing 2
• Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com
NAME DATE
 
their
✓
IMPROVING SENTENCES: R
EPAIRING

P
RONOUN
P
ROBLEMS
Good writers avoid
redundancy
—the uninteresting repetition of words. When you
find yourself repeating nouns, try using pronouns as noun substitutes. Just make
sure the pronoun you use agrees in number and gender with the noun it replaces.
A.
Find the pronoun problems. Write C by the correct items. Put a checkmark
by those with pronoun errors. (You should find four errors.) Then underline
the problem pronoun and write a correct pronoun above it. The first one has
been done for you.
1. _____ Modern eye doctors sometimes treat his patients with a laser.
2. _____ A laser beam projects in one ray. He is like a rod.
3. _____ The single beam can punch a hole in metal. It can drill hundreds
of holes in the head of a pin.
4. _____ Doctors might use a laser instead of a scalpel to treat her patients.
5. _____ If you have ever listened to a compact disc, you’ve used laser light.
6. _____ Laser beams read signals on compact discs. Store clerks also use
it to scan package bar codes.
B.
Improve this redundant paragraph by substituting
pronouns for some of the nouns. Make sure each
pronoun you use agrees with the noun it replaces in
number and gender. Write the improved paragraph
on the back of this sheet.
In 1818, Mary Shelley wrote a frightening tale.
Mary Shelley’s story told of the scientist, Dr. Victor

Frankenstein, and Dr. Frankenstein’s mad experiment.
Dr. Frankenstein built a being in the form of a man.
Dr. Frankenstein made the being out of dead body parts.
Dr. Frankenstein brought the being to life with electricity. The being was
very lonely. The being’s loneliness turned the being into a monster, and
the monster killed members of Dr. Frankenstein’s family. The monster
finally killed Dr. Frankenstein himself. The story of Dr. Frankenstein
and Dr. Frankenstein’s monster has become popular. In fact, the story
is one of the world’s most famous horror tales.