Unit 5 Expanded Sentence Base (1)
Objectives
At the end of the unit you will be able to
1.know the features of attributes;
2.use the seven types of attributes correctly;
3.Use relative clauses for emphasis; and
4.Write précis for short paragraphs.
Part 1 Warm-up Activities
1.Look at the following pictures. What do you think they are about? Describe these pictures to your partner in as few sentences as possible.(附图片p57)
2.People hunt sometimes, but they hunt in different ways at different times. The above four pictures illustrate the changes in the way people hunt. Can you write a short paragraph to describe these changes?
Part 2 Focus
In this unit we are going to discuss how to expand sentences. That is, we are going to talk about how to make sentences longer and convey more information. This is because we can’t always use short and simple sentences when we intend to express more complicated ideas. Since nouns are almost indispensable in every sentence, we will concentrate on how to expand noun phrases in this unit.
Attributes
A common way to expand sentences is to make nouns more exact. For this purpose, you may either narrow them down or provide more detailed descriptions. Words or phrases used to narrow down or describe nouns are called attributes.
Classroom Activities
Read the two versions of the same story and then work in groups to answer the questions.
Version 1
Once upon a time, a frog lived in a pond. He knew plant and stone, and he could swim across it. He was the creature, so he was very important. When he croaked, the water-snails listened. And the battles always swam. He was happy.
One day, a dragonfly passed by. “You are a frog,” she sang, “but why don’t you live in a pond? Come to my pond. You’ll find frogs there. You’ll meet fish, and you’ll see ducks. And you must see our water-lilies. Life is wonderful.”
“Perhaps it is rather dull here,” thought the frog. So he hopped after the dragonfly.
Version 2
Once upon a time, a big, fat frog lived in a tiny, shallow pond. He knew every plant and stone in it, and he could swim across it easily. He was the biggest creature, so he was very important. When he croaked, the water-snails listened politely. And the beetles always swam behind him. He was very happy there.
One day, a dragonfly passed by. “You are a very fine frog,” she sang, “but why don’t you live in a bigger pond? Come to my pond. You’ll find a lot of frogs there. You’ll meet some fine fish, and you’ll see some dangerous ducks. And you must see our lovely water-lilies. Life in a large pond is wonderful.”
“Perhaps it is rather dull here,” thought the foolish frog. So he hopped after the dragonfly.
1) Which version of the story gives you a clear idea? Why?
2) Underline the words added in the second version. Identify the attributes among them, and decide which are used to narrow down the nouns, and which are used for description. Write down your findings in the space provided below.
Narrowing-down attributes:
Descriptive attributes:
3) Pay attention to the positions of these attributes. Which attributes are placed before nouns? Which are used after nouns?
What can be used as attributes?
When discussing attributes, you may think of adjectives only. In fact, many other types of words may function as attributes as well. Can you work with your partners and come up with a list?
A. Determiners
Determiners refer to words that are used to define the referential meaning of a noun or a nominal phrase. Determiners include mainly three categories of words: articles, possessive and demonstrative pronouns, and cardinal and ordinal numerals*. For example:
a. The dog’s plan is to catch a mouse.
b. This book can help explain those dreams.
c. This will be your last supper here.
d. Do you think Thirty-Nine Steps is a good film?
e. Oh, my love. I hunger for your touch.
*Determiners should be arranged in proper order if two or more of them are used for one noun. Please refer to Word Order in the Grammar part of the unit.
B. Adjectives
Adjectives are the most common attributes. They are mainly used to describe nouns. Most adjectives are used before nouns they modify, but if you write a complex adjective phrase, you should place it after the noun. *For example:
a. She hates hairy animals.
b. My love is like a red red rose.
c. His mouth watered at the sight of those sweet red strawberries.
d. Will you buy me an expensive yellow German car?
e. I need a house big enough for five people.
*Adjectives should be arranged in proper order if two or more of them are used for one noun. Please refer to Word Order in the Grammar part of the unit.
C. Nouns
Nouns can also be used as attributes. In this case, most of them indicate the feature of the noun modified. For example:
a. Her boy friend is a fashion designer.
b. I’ll be expecting you at the school gate.
c. Do you like the Labour Party?
d. Many of us have signed up for HR (Human Resource) Management.
e. They say that there are more and more men nurses in hospitals.
D. -ing forms
The ing-forms of many verbs can be used as attributes to describe the function, feature or to indicate the present state of the noun. When it is only a simple verb+ -ing, it is placed before the noun. When the -ing form has its own object or adverbial, it is usually placed after the noun. For example:
a. We all like her smiling face.
b. People are frightened by the soaring prices.
c. This is surely an exciting and rewarding exercise.
d. He knows many people living in that area.
E. This book is about some scientists exploring sea animals in the polar areas.
E. -ed forms
An -ed form usually means that the noun modified is the receiver of the verb. Like -ing forms, if we just use simple -ed forms, we usually put them before the noun; if we use an -ed form with adverbials, we usually put them after the noun. Sometimes, if there is only an adverb modifying the -ed form, we may also put it before the noun. For example:
a. He only drinks imported wine.
b. It’s no use crying over spilt milk.
c. You can find many well-tailored suits in this shop.
d. Many people prefer furniture made of wood.
e. They visited a hospital built especially for the aged.
F. Infinitives
An infinitive usually refers to a future action. When used as an attribute, the infinitive must be placed after the noun. For example:
a. There isn’t much time to finish this job.
b. The decision to be made is of much historical importance.
c. There is no need for you to take this exam.
d. Do you have a friend to talk to?
e. If you have your own way to deal with people, then why do you tell me about all this?
G. Prepositional phrases
A prepositional phrase is usually used to refer to place, purpose, etc. It is placed after the noun it modifies. For example:
a. What do you think of the guy from Class Two?
b. Nobody wants to miss the game between Germany and Brazil tonight.
c. As the saying goes, there’s no medicine for regret.
d. I can’t stand that silly ad for dog food, can you?
e. Actually many people were deceived by the title of the film.
Classroom Activities
1.The following is an excerpt explaining the theory of relativity. Underline all the attributes and think about their functions. Mark N if they narrow down the meaning of the noun, and mark D if they provide more detailed descriptions.
Motion, said Einstein, slows down clocks. The faster a clock is moved, the slower it runs. The amount of slowing down is so small that it cannot be noticed at speeds of a few hundred, even a few thousand, kilometers per hour. But, if a clock could be moved at a speed of almost 297,600 kilometers per second, it would almost stop completely.
The human heart is a kind of clock, so the rate of its beating is slowed down by motion. So is the rate of breathing, and so are all the other processes of the body. A human being in a high-speed spaceship would not notice these changes. His pulse-rate would appear normal, for the clocks and watches in the spaceship would have slowed down in proportion. But he would find things different when he returned to the earth, which he had left some time ago.
Relative clauses
Study the following groups of sentences, and find out the differences in terms of information between the sentences in each group.
a. 1) I like the dog.
2) I like the dog which is running after the cat.
3) I like the dog which is running after the cat that stole my fish yesterday.
b. 1) That old man lives in an old house.
2) That old man whom you talked about just now lives in an old house.
3) That old man whom you talked about just now lives in an old house that looks like a castle in fairy tales.
Your findings:
You may find that in each group sentence 2 contains more information than Sentence 1, and Sentence 3,in turn, contains still more than Sentence 2.There are altogether four pieces of new information inserted after four nouns, namely dog, cat, man, and house. Do they narrow down the nouns, or describe the nouns more vividly? Put your findings down.
Narrow-down attributes:
Descriptive attributes:
You may find that these four new attributes are all made up of two parts: a sentence and a preceding word. In this case, we are using sentences to modify nouns. Some call sentences of this kind attributive clause because they function as attributes. Others prefer to use the term relative clauses because the words ahead are called relatives, or relative words.
In the above examples, we have found three relatives, namely which, that and whom. Now, read the following passage, and list all the relative words in the space below.
Prof. Yang, who is approaching his 70s, finds that his mind fails him more and more. He knows that today is the day when he should return some books to the library, but he cannot remember the place where he has left them. He searches his own study: they are not there. He tries his wife’s bookshelf, in which he sometimes puts his books: they are not there, either. He even looks under the sofa where his granddaughter sometimes hides her favorite food, but this time this place is extremely clean. As he cannot find the reason why the books have disappeared, all he can do is call the library for an extension. The librarian, whom he knows very well but whose name he can never remember, tells him：“Ah, Professor, I think you didn’t take those books with you that day.”
Classroom Activities
Study the following sentences and underline all the relative clauses.
1) The man who teaches you geography was a teacher of football two years ago.
2) This summer, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a film that every kids looks forward to.
3) She refused to tell me whom she went out with last night.
4) Do you think those who know the law thoroughly will automatically obey the law?
5) It’s interesting to grow up in the countryside where all the animals can be your friend.
Why use relative clauses
Relative clauses are used to expand sentences. Is this the only reason for us to use relative clauses? Complete the following exercise and try to find out some other functions of relative clauses.
The following two sentences tell a very simple. Can you tell it in just one sentence?
--- I bought a toy car for my son on his birthday. (Idea 1)
--- My son liked the toy car very much. (Idea 2)
Version 1: Version 2: Version 3:
Can you find the differences in meaning in each of your own sentences? Are the two ideas equally important? Underline the idea that seems more important in each sentence.
You may find that the idea in the main clause is more important than that in the relative clause. Writers should always remember that by using relative clauses, they can direct readers’ attention to ideas in the main clause.
Classroom Activities
Combine the sentences in the following groups and try to emphasize the words in italics.
1) I hate Mr. Johnson most.
Mr. Johnson asks us to write an article every week.
2) Do you dare to board a plane?
There is no pilot in the plane.
3) Tony swears to beat the guy.
That person has damaged his new dictionary.
He bought that dictionary in the States.
4) Jim fell in love with a girl.
The girl is the daughter of a local businessman.
5) Mr. Wang is to speak first at the meeting.
Mr. Wang heads the bankers’ association in this city.
Writing correct relative clauses
It is very important to be able to use relative clauses correctly, but it is found that many mistakes occur with the use of relative words. Generally speaking, which relative word to use depends on what type of noun, i.e., the antecedent, is being expanded, e.g., does it refer to something or somebody, etc.
Can you come up with some tentative rules about the relationship between the nature of the antecedent and the relative word used to introduce a relative clause?
Rule 1 where the antecedent refers to a thing.
For example: ________________________________________
Rule 2 where the antecedent refers to a person
For example:_________________________________________
Rule3 Where the antecedent is used as possessive in the clause.
For example: ___________________________________
Rule 4 where the antecedent refers to a time
For example:__________________________________
Rule 5 where the antecedent refers to a place
For example: _______________________________________
Rule 6 where the antecedent refers to a cause
For example:_______________________________________
Rule 7 where the antecedent refers to a manner
For example:____________________________________________
Rule 8 where the antecedent refers to the main clause as a whole
For example:_________________________________________
Rule 9Where the relative clause has no relative words
For example:______________________________________
Rule 10Where the relative clause begins with a proposition.
For example:______________________________________
Rule 11 where the antecedent and the relative clause are separated by a comma
For example:_______________________________________
Classroom Activities
1.Work in pairs and use different ways to combine the three sets of sentences with relative clauses.
1) This tribe has migrated to Asia.
This tribe is actually a nomadic people from Europe.
This tribe was once thought to be Egyptians.
2) The FIFA World Cup is held every four years.
For the first time it was going to be held in two neighboring countries.
The two countries were both believed to be not strong in football.
3) Americans prefer big cars to small cars.
Big cars are easy to drive.
Small cars save oil.
2.Look at your writing for the Warming-up Activities again. Try to improve it with relative clauses.
Part = 3 \* ROMAN \* MERGEFORMAT III Grammar
Incomplete sentences
Study the following sentences, and then try to correct the mistakes in them.
a. Behind the house. There lives a big bad wolf.
b. I have to finish this paper this week. And prepares for the test as well.
c. My parents always afraid that I may get lost.
d. I will call you tonight. If I can finish my work in time.
Novice writers tend to make four kinds of mistakes in terms of incomplete sentences.
A. Phrase fragment
Inexperienced writers may write a phrase as if it were a sentence, because they borrow the phrase directly from the spoken language. Sentence a in the above exercise is an example. The following two sentences contain similar mistakes. Try to correct them.
Over by the side of the street. There is a store selling delicious sweets.
I’ll meet you in the library. At four in the afternoon.
B. Fragment without a subject
Sometimes writers produce a fragment without a subject because they divide a sentence with two or more sentences, like Sentence b in the exercise. Can you correct the following two sentences?
She stood by the window. And looked at the street below.
The kids painted themselves green. And ran through the street to frighten the passers-by.
C.Fragment without an auxiliary verb
Many writers often forget to put in a linking verb or auxiliary verb, thus produce fragments without verbs. Sentence c in the exercise is an example. Now, try to supply the missing words in the following sentences.
You like seafood, too?
You ever seen her lately?
We preparing for the coming exam.
D. Subordinate clause fragment
A subordinate clause is a sentence used as part of another sentence, but many students treat it as an individual sentence. Sentences of this kind are acceptable in informal context, but in formal writing they are considered ungrammatical. Pay special attention to adverbial clauses of reason introduced by because, for, as, since, etc. Try to improve the following sentences.
I hate writing. Because I can never get my teachers’ praise.
Because it’s raining cats and dogs. I won’t lend you my bike.
You can’t ring her up now. For it’s already midnight.
Classroom Activities
Correct any incomplete sentence you can find in the following paragraph.
The author learned many things. During his college years. He learned to read and write well. He also learned to be independent. And to rely upon his own judgment. He is a good role model for high school students. Especially students with little money but lots of ambition. Success in college takes a great deal of hard work. But can be achieved by many people.
Now, can you summarize the ways to avoid incomplete sentences?
Summary: