ENG 420
Williams identifies three kinds of correctness: 1. "Define the fundamental structure of English" 2. "Distinguish standard speech from non-standard" 3. "Invented rules;" "trivia of usage" (e.g. beginning sentences with "and," "but," or "because") How does he rank their order of importance from most important to least important?
1-2-3
(1)Nowadays we tend to use the expression plain vanilla in a derogatory sense for something simple and unadorned. (2)But have you ever thought about the ways in which the vanilla bean has improved the taste of what we eat? (3)One of the most used, and presumably, most appreciated, flavors known to man, worldwide we use more than one thousand tons of vanilla beans every year, mainly to flavor ice cream, cakes and confectionery. (4)Since the 1930s chemical companies have also been making huge amounts of synthetic vanilla essence mainly from the byproducts of the paper pulp industry. (5)In fact, most of the vanilla flavor products on the supermarket shelves have never seen a vanilla pod. (6)However, good cooks keep real vanilla pods in their sugar to enhance the taste of their cakes and cookies and would not buy synthetic vanilla. (7)Natural vanilla is the product of a creeper that grows best in hot wet climates. (8)It requires hand pollinating and the growing, harvesting and curing need skill and are labor intensive. (9)With the advent of biotechnology it remains to be seen how long the traditional growing and production methods would survive. (10)But whatever the source, vanilla has become essential to the human palate. (11)Think about it: do you even know what plain ice cream would taste like without vanilla? Which sentence best states the author's contention about vanilla?
10
Between you and I, the highway department must review bridge A construction across the country in order to avoid major catastophes B C resulting from metal fatigue. No error
A
He has lain down his book and is sleeping; reading in a dimly lit room can A B C be very tiring. No error D E
A
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress has adopted a resolution A to designate the design for the American flag, but no flags were issued until B C D 1783. No error
A
We resented him criticizing our efforts because he had ignored our requests A B C for assistance up to that time. No error
A
As soon as the captains heard that a school of bluefish were near the A B wreck, the fishing fleet set out from the harbor. No error
B
Neither the reporters nor the editor were satisfied with the salary offer made A B C by the publisher. No error
B
(1) Recently a group of workers from a clothing factory in my hometown picketed peacefully in front of a department store. (2) They carried signs, and passing shoppers were urged by them to buy products that were made in the United States. (3) A newspaper article suggested that they were wrong. (4) It pointed out that nearly all stores now sell goods that are not made in this country. (5) However, I would argue that the demonstrators are right, consumers should think about the effect they can have on industries here in the United States. Question: In context, which is the best way to revise and combine the underlined portions of sentences 3 and 4 (reproduced below)?
A newspaper article suggested that the demonstrators were wrong, pointing out
Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?
A team of experienced individuals counted the data, created the draft, and edited the report.
Williams considers that in most cases clear writing is ethical writing. Which of the following is clearer and more direct?
According to the State Utilities Commission, we can now make you pay more for your gas service after the new year.
Which sentence adheres to the principle of concision?
Because the mice were unavailable, we delayed the experiment.
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1)Cicero said, A room without a book is a body without a soul. (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment. (4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room. (8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race. (10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come. Which version of sentence 8 would form the best transition between paragraphs two and three?
Besides their aesthetic appeal, books have symbolic power.
The general, along with members of his general staff, seem to favor A B C immediate retaliation. No error
C
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1)Cicero said, A room without a book is a body without a soul. (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment. (4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room. (8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race. (10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come. What revision is most needed in sentence 9?
Change the comma to a semicolon.
Call your father as soon as you arrive in Antigonish.
Complex Sentence
The football game was cancelled because it was raining.
Complex Sentence
Unless my girlfriend postpones her visit from Calgary, I will not have time to study for my exam.
Complex Sentence
When the train arrives and if Ms. Langlois is on it, she will be served with a subpoena.
Complex Sentence
Democracy is a noble goal; it is important, however, to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.
Compound Sentence
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, but Toronto is the capital of Ontario.
Compound Sentence
Susanne wanted to be here, but she cannot come because her car is in the shop.
Compound-Complex Sentence
Which sentence better reflects that what causes distrust between Serbs and Albanians is the circumstances of their history?
Generations of cultural conflict have created distrust between Serbs and Albanians.
Using Williams' principles about sentence shape, select the more shapely sentence.
Grade inflation is a problem at many universities because it devalues good grades that were earned by hard work, but it will not be solved simply by grading harder.
Bear in mind (A) that since (B) words are tools, only (C) experienced writers are permitted in taking (D) liberties in writing style. No error. (E)
D
If the gardener would sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than the garden, he might get a better display of flowers.
If the gardener were to sow the seeds in the greenhouse rather than in the garden
As some of the conglomerates gain more power, the legal codes regarding A B C bankruptcy and monopoly will need further consideration. No error
E
The renter of the car initialed the clause in the contract to indicate his A B C awareness that he was liable for the first fifty dollars of any damages to the D automobile. No error E
E
(1) Until the discovery of the Rosetta stone, the hieroglyphic writing of the ancient Egyptians was indecipherable to scholars. (2) Egyptian hieroglyphic writing died out in the third century A.D. (3) The ancient Egyptian religion died out. (4) Priests were the ones who mostly used this type of writing. (5) For centuries afterward, no one knew how to read the many inscriptions on Egyptian temple walls. (6) Nevertheless, in 1799, the Rosetta Stone was found near the town of Rashid (called Rosetta by the English) in the Nile Delta in Egypt. (7) Here was the key to deciphering hieroglyphic writing. Question: Which of the following is the best way to combine sentences 2, 3, and 4 (reproduced below) in order to convey clearly the relationship of the ideas?
Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, used mainly by priests, died out in the third century A.D. along with the ancient Egyptian religion.
The paragraphs below are the first two paragraphs of a passage. (1) Jazz is a satisfying and creative form of music. (2) The freedom it allows the musician is in no other form of music. (3) Improvisation is the reason. (4) With jazz, musicians can compose music as they play. (5) Jazz, more than any other music, can evoke so many moods and feelings. (6) The soulful wailing of a saxophone in a bluesy ballad can bring tears to a listener's eyes, and the soaring notes of a jazz trumpet can inspire joy. 7) Jazz is often played with a vocalist. (8) It is so expressive, that many jazz enthusiasts believe words are unnecessary. (9) Jazz goes beyond words. (10) Unfortunately, purely instrumental jazz may not appeal to some people because of this; they need words to associate with feelings. Question: In context, which is the best transition to use at the beginning of sentence 9?
For them,
Which passage keeps the topics short and reasonably consistent?
In the first phase of this study, we examine how Asian companies compete with American companies in the Pacific region. We examine in particular their labor costs and ability to introduce new products quickly. We develop from this study a plan that will show American industry how to restructure its facilities.
Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?
The American Heart Association sees gene therapy as promising.
Williams praises two earlier American writers who wrote with a "clear" and "direct" style: Thomas Paine, in 1776, and _______________ a century later? (Your answer requires the first and last name of the writer.)
Mark Twain
Which of the two sentences below is more elegant?
Mediocrity in government is something that, unfortunately, many Americans are willing to endure.
What is the concise alternative to "a majority of."
Most
Using Williams' principles about sentence shape, select the more shapely sentence.
New regulations have been set by the committee on plant safety standards.
Which passage begins sentences with subjects consisting of short, concrete, familiar words and phrases communicating information that readers are familiar with?
Of all the wars in American history, none has exceeded the Civil War in the number of dead. The memory of this terrible carnage is one reason for the lingering animosity between North and South today.
According to Williams' principles of elegance, which sentence ends stronger?
Our most etical choices are based not on what is most convenient in the moment but on moral principles that are unchanging.
Which of the two sentences below is more elegant?
Professional baseball and football have alienated fans by catering to owners who care only for profits and to athletes who care more for contracts than performance.
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1)Cicero said, A room without a book is a body without a soul. (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment. (4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room. (8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race. (10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come. Sentence 7 would probably benefit from all the following changes EXCEPT
Remove the word aesthetically .
Which is the example of unethical prose by intended misdirection?
The Illinois Commerce Commission has authorized a restructuring of our rates together with an increase in Service Charge revenues effective with service rendered on and after November 12, 1990. This is the first increase in rates for People s Gas in over six years. The restructuring of rates is consistent with the policy of the Public Utilities Act that rates for service to various classes of utility customers be based upon the cost of providing that service. The new rates move revenues from every class of customer closer to the cost actually incurred to provide gas service.
I ate the sushi and left the restaurant.
Simple Sentence
I do not own a Porsche.
Simple Sentence
The football game was cancelled because of the rain.
Simple Sentence
Which of the sentences avoids what Williams calls nominalization?
The committee intends to audit the records.
Which of the following three opening sentences best sets up the ideas that follow in the rest of the paragraph reproduced below? Assume that the reader would be already familiar with the characters--Russian rulers. The best of the three sentences will in its last few words highlight the new concepts that we associate with those rulers. The problems began in 1722, when Tsar Peter the Great passed a law of succession that terminated the principle of succession by heredity and required the sovereign to appoint a successor when he died. But many of the Tsars, including Peter, died before they named successors, those who aspired to rule had no authority by appointment, and so their succession was often disputed by the boyars, lower-level aristocrats. There was turmoil even when successors were appointed. In 1740, Ivan VI was adopted by Czarina Anna Ivanova and named as her successor at age two months, but his succession was challenged by Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great. In 1741, she defeated Anna and ascended to the throne herself. In 1797 Paul tried to eliminate these disputes by codefying a law: primogeniture in the male line. But turmoil continued. Paul was strangled by conspirators, one of whom was probably his son, Alexander I.
The next century the situation changed, because after Peter the Great seven out of eight reigns of the Romanov line were plagued by turmoil over disputed succession to the throne.
Passage: (1) In the last fifty years, computers in many forms have become increasingly accessible. (2) For example, today the calculator is regarded as an essential tool for basic calculations by students and business people. (3) Word processing is considered indispensable by most writers, researchers, and office workers. (4) In addition, many families use computers to organize information, to balance budgets, and to provide entertainment. Question: Which of the following would be the most suitable sentence to insert immediately after sentence 1?
They are now so common that they have a profound effect on daily life.
According to Williams, what gives readers a sense of shapeless length?
They don't find a sentence's point near the beginning. They have to wait too long to get to the verb in the main clause. After the verb, they have to slog through a series of tacked on phrases and dependent clauses. They are stopped by one interruption after another.
Select the sentence that illustrates the grace of compression.
They ignored other interpretations.
Why, according to Williams, have rules existed?
To "keep the under classes" under control To serve as a rite of passage, or discipline To win a place as a well-educated person within the institutions of power To encourage "efficiencies of expression"
Which sentence is more shapely?
To explain why Shakespeare had Lady Macbeth die off-stage, we must understand how the audience reacted to Macbeth's death.
Which version of the underlined part best corrects and improves sentence 3 (reproduced below)? One of the most used, and presumably, most appreciated, flavors known to man, worldwide we use more than one thousand tons of vanilla beans every year, mainly to flavor ice cream, cakes and confectionery.
Vanilla is certainly one of the most used, and presumably most appreciated, flavors known to man. Worldwide
Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?
We believe that students binge because they don't understand the risks of alcohol.
Being abandoned by our friends is the cause of great sorrow for us.
We feel great sorrow when our friends abandon us.
Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?
We were bothered by the lack of pertinent information.
Which of the following sentences uses the active voice?
We wrote these directives as simply as possible to communicate effectively with employees who do not read well.
Included in Williams' list of ways to end a sentence with special emphasis are Weighty Words Echoing Salience Chiasmus Suspension Which way of ending a sentence with special emphasis does the sentence below use? . . . until in God's good time, the New World with all its power and might steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the Old.
Weighty Words
Which of the sentences avoids what Williams calls nominalization?
When a student is not socialized in a field, she may have writing problems because she may not understand how professionals in that field argue.
Which of the sentences avoids what Williams calls nominalization?
When pregnant women smoke, they may injure their fetus.
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. In making your decision, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1) Every year we hear more and more people complaining about the extended commercialism of the winter holiday season. (2) Every year stores put out decorations and holiday merchandise earlier and earlier. (3) Yet every year retailers complain that sales are not what they should be. (4) When will retailers learn? (5) The public knows how to keep its own schedule. (6) When we do not buy holiday gifts far in advance, shoppers are saying that they do not want to think about the winter holidays too early. Which of the following is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 6 (reproduced below) ? When we do not buy holiday gifts far in advance, shoppers are saying that they do not want to think about the winter holidays too early.
When shoppers do not buy holiday gifts far in advance, they
Which of the sentences avoids what Williams calls nominalization?
When the hood flies up, the driver cannot see.
Williams says that you need metadiscourse in almost everything you write. You also need some metadiscourse that hedges your certainty. So, what is the problem using such words?
Williams says you can bury your ideas under too much metadiscourse.
The temperature dropped suddenly last night, which will mean that the shoots emerging from the soil will be killed by the frost.
and the resulting frost will kill the shoots that are emerging from the soil.
The impostor eluded detection for so long because she conducted herself as though she were a licensed practitioner.
as though she were a licensed practitioner.
Why does Williams think that we are so poor at editing our own writing?
because we read into it what we wanted to mean when we wrote it
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1)Cicero said, A room without a book is a body without a soul. (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment. (4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room. (8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race. (10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come. Which is the best version of the underlined part of the last sentence (reproduced below)?More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come.
books have withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely
(1)Nowadays we tend to use the expression plain vanilla in a derogatory sense for something simple and unadorned. (2)But have you ever thought about the ways in which the vanilla bean has improved the taste of what we eat? (3)One of the most used, and presumably, most appreciated, flavors known to man, worldwide we use more than one thousand tons of vanilla beans every year, mainly to flavor ice cream, cakes and confectionery. (4)Since the 1930s chemical companies have also been making huge amounts of synthetic vanilla essence mainly from the byproducts of the paper pulp industry. (5)In fact, most of the vanilla flavor products on the supermarket shelves have never seen a vanilla pod. (6)However, good cooks keep real vanilla pods in their sugar to enhance the taste of their cakes and cookies and would not buy synthetic vanilla. (7)Natural vanilla is the product of a creeper that grows best in hot wet climates. (8)It requires hand pollinating and the growing, harvesting and curing need skill and are labor intensive. (9)With the advent of biotechnology it remains to be seen how long the traditional growing and production methods would survive. (10)But whatever the source, vanilla has become essential to the human palate. (11)Think about it: do you even know what plain ice cream would taste like without vanilla? The change most needed in sentence 9 is
change would to will
Supply the missing word: "Have something to say, and say it as ______________ as you can" (Matthew Arnold).
clearly
What unacceptable kind of a modifier implies a different subject from the explicit subject of the main clause? An example of this kind of modifier appears in the following sentence: Hoping to find some cause of the flaw, the results of the tests were reviewed
dangling
Which principles does Williams recommend writers use in order to cut and compress every sentence you write?
delete words that mean little or nothing delete words that repeat the meaning of other words delete words implied by other words replace a phrase with a word change negatives to affirmatives
Place the more difficult and unfamiliar language at the _______ of the sentence.
end
What word is being emphasized in the following text? Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
equal
What does Williams recommend for the beginning of a sentence?
get to your subject/topic quickly
What kind of information do readers prefer to get first in a sentence?
information they are familiar with (old before new)
What would Williams call saying, "I'm afraid our new funding didn't come through," instead of saying, "You have no job"?
kindness (softening bad news)
In the fine print at the end of the document lies the clauses that make us liable for any expenses that result from civil unrest.
lie the clauses that make us liable for any expenses that
Does the Gettysburg Address have a high or low number of nominalizations? "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth."
low number of nominalization (direct style)
What word is being emphasized in the following text? By Any Other Name Santha Rama Rau At the Anglo-Indian day school in Zorinabad to which my sister and I were sent when she was eight and I was five and a half, they changed our names. On the first day of school, a hot, windless morning of a north Indian September, we stood in the headmistress s study and she said, Now you re the new girls. What are your names? My sister answered for us. I am Premila, and she nodding in my direction is Santha. The headmistress had been in India, I suppose, fifteen years or so, but she still smiled her helpless inability to cope with Indian names.
name(s)
How important is the rule about not beginning sentences with "and" or "but," according to Williams?
not important
(1)Nowadays we tend to use the expression plain vanilla in a derogatory sense for something simple and unadorned. (2)But have you ever thought about the ways in which the vanilla bean has improved the taste of what we eat? (3)One of the most used, and presumably, most appreciated, flavors known to man, worldwide we use more than one thousand tons of vanilla beans every year, mainly to flavor ice cream, cakes and confectionery. (4)Since the 1930s chemical companies have also been making huge amounts of synthetic vanilla essence mainly from the byproducts of the paper pulp industry. (5)In fact, most of the vanilla flavor products on the supermarket shelves have never seen a vanilla pod. (6)However, good cooks keep real vanilla pods in their sugar to enhance the taste of their cakes and cookies and would not buy synthetic vanilla. (7)Natural vanilla is the product of a creeper that grows best in hot wet climates. (8)It requires hand pollinating and the growing, harvesting and curing need skill and are labor intensive. (9)With the advent of biotechnology it remains to be seen how long the traditional growing and production methods would survive. (10)But whatever the source, vanilla has become essential to the human palate. (11)Think about it: do you even know what plain ice cream would taste like without vanilla? One reason the writer uses the word plain in the last sentence is probably
to link to the use of the same word in the first sentence
What, part of speech do readers prefer to see aligned with the crucial action of the sentence?
verb
Among the many reasons for his defeat in the election was his arrogant assumption that his constituents were incapable of understanding economic conditions, and his unwarranted attack on his chief opponent.
were his arrogant assumption that his constituents were incapable of understanding economic conditions
(1)Nowadays we tend to use the expression plain vanilla in a derogatory sense for something simple and unadorned. (2)But have you ever thought about the ways in which the vanilla bean has improved the taste of what we eat? (3)One of the most used, and presumably, most appreciated, flavors known to man, worldwide we use more than one thousand tons of vanilla beans every year, mainly to flavor ice cream, cakes and confectionery. (4)Since the 1930s chemical companies have also been making huge amounts of synthetic vanilla essence mainly from the byproducts of the paper pulp industry. (5)In fact, most of the vanilla flavor products on the supermarket shelves have never seen a vanilla pod. (6)However, good cooks keep real vanilla pods in their sugar to enhance the taste of their cakes and cookies and would not buy synthetic vanilla. (7)Natural vanilla is the product of a creeper that grows best in hot wet climates. (8)It requires hand pollinating and the growing, harvesting and curing need skill and are labor intensive. (9)With the advent of biotechnology it remains to be seen how long the traditional growing and production methods would survive. (10)But whatever the source, vanilla has become essential to the human palate. (11)Think about it: do you even know what plain ice cream would taste like without vanilla? The writer uses all of the following techniques except
personal experience
Williams uses the adjective "turgid" many times to describe poor writing. What does "turgid" mean?
pompous
Supply the missing word: No grammatical ___________ have sufficient authority to control the firm and established usage of language. Established custom, in speaking and writing, is the standard to which we must at last resort for determining every controverted point in language and style. Hugh Blair
rules
It ought to be her with whom you share your secrets, not me.
she with whom you share your secrets, not I.
The population of tigers in the National Park is increasing steadily, and this is a source of encouragement to those who have worked so hard to fund the conservation effort.
steadily; this trend
How does Williams define style?
style as choice
Williams calls the topic of a sentence what the sentence is about. Readers find writing clear and direct when they know what the sentence is about. Often but not always, as what grammatical part of speech does the reader expect to find the topic?
subject
Which word from the sentence below belongs in the stressed part of the sentence? Thus Creon s pride forces Antigone s death which drives his son to suicide and then his wife.
suicide
Conditions in the high mountains are inimical to long term survival; the air is too rarefied and the temperature too low.
the air is too rarefied and the temperature too low.
Trying to keep her balance on the icy surface, the last competitor's ski-tip caught the pole and somersaulted into the soft snow.
the last competitor caught the pole with the tip of her ski, and somersaulted into the soft snow.
What pronoun does Williams think will eventually replace "he" as a generic pronoun covering both genders?
they
The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure and word choice. Other questions refer to parts of the essay or the entire essay and ask you to consider organization and development. In making your decisions, follow the conventions of standard written English. (1)Cicero said, A room without a book is a body without a soul. (2) Certainly when I enter someone's home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment. (4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room. (8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of book burning', associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race. (10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come. Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 3 (reproduced below)?But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment.
will be reduced to an item of decoration rather than a source of information
How should an elegant sentence end?
with artful stress
