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You already have sentence sense regarding spoken language.When you are speaking，your voice rises and falls naturally to indicate the beginning and the end of a sentence.You can develop sentence sense in writing by“listening”to the sentences you write.If you practice“listening”to the exercise sentences in this chapter，you will learn to avoid the two common errors in writing，i.e.the fragment and the run-on sentence，and add interest to your compositions by varying the way you construct sentences according to the features of effective sentences.

A fragment is a separated sentence part that does not express a complete thought.A fragment is usually an additional idea that has been incorrectly cut off from the sentence in which it belongs.Fragments of this kind should be joined to the preceding sentences，as shown in Example 1.Sometimes a garment should be corrected by being placed at the beginning of or within the sentence from which it was separated，as shown in Examples 2 and 3.

1.FRAGMENT:As we ran toward the bus，it drove off.Leaving Kevin and me standing helpless on the corner.

CORRECTED:As we ran toward the bus，it drove off，leaving Kevin and me standing helpless on the corner.

2.FRAGMENT:Mark works slowly on the mound.Taking plenty of time between pitches.

CORRECTED:Taking plenty of time between pitches，Mark works slowly on the mound.

3.FRAGMENT:They talked with Mr.Barnum in his office.The principal of the school.

CORRECTED:They talked with Mr.Barnum，the principal of the school，in his office.

Common Types of Sentence Fragments

The First Type Is Subordinate Clause

A subordinate clause always depends on an independent clause to complete its meaning.It must be attached to a statement that makes sense standing alone，as shown in Example 4.

Relative pronouns and subordinating conjunctions are “dependent words”that introduce subordinate clauses.Some common dependent words are listed below.

4.FRAGMENT:The peas and carrots had a flat taste.Since they had come from a can.I forced myself to eat them.

CORRECTED:The peas and carrots had a flat taste since they had come from a can.I forced myself to eat them.

The Second Type IsVerbal Phrase

Verbals (相当于汉语中的“非谓语动词” )are forms of verbs that are used as other part of speech.A verbal phrase is a phrase containing a verbal.By itself，a verbal phrase is a fragment as it cannot express a complete thought.Like subordinate clauses，verbals depend upon independent clauses to make their meaning complete.You can either attach the fragment to the sentence that comes before or after it，whichever makes sense，or add a subject and change the verbals to the correct form of the verb.

5.FRAGMENT:At the age of ten I had to recite a poem in church.I was afraid of the adults in the audience.I was also worried that the kids would giggle at me.To make me laugh if possible.

CORRECTED:At the age of ten I had to recite a poem in church.I was afraid of the adults in the audience.I was also worried that the kids would giggle at me to make me laugh if possible.

6.FRAGMENT:He looked forward to the study period at school.It being the only time he could sit unbothered and dream about his future.

CORRECTED:He looked forward to the study period at school.It was the only time he could sit unbothered and dream about his future.

The Third Type Is Appositive Phrase

An appositive is a word which means the same thing as the noun or pronoun it follows.An appositive phrase，made up of the appositive and its modifiers，does not contain the basic parts of a sentence.By itself it is a fragment and must be attached to a dependent clause to express a complete idea.

7.FRAGMENT:We have learned two new literary terms.Indirect satire and irony.

CORRECTED:We have learned two new literary terms，indirect satire and irony.

Sometimes writers do not recognize where a sentence ends and they keep on going into the next sentence.They use a comma or no mark of punctuation instead of a period after a sentence.They permit the sentence to“run on”into the next.To correct run-on sentences，you can either use a period and a capital letter to mark the break between the thoughts，or use a comma plus a joining word (and，but，for，or，nor，so，yet)to connect two complete thoughts，or use a semicolon (; )to connect the two complete thoughts; the semicolon signals more of a pause than a comma alone but not quite the full pause of a period.The three devices are shown in Example 8.

8.RUN-ON:Rita decided to stop smoking，she didn’ t want to die of lung cancer.

CORRECTED a:Rita decided to stop smoking.She didn’ t want to die of lung cancer.

CORRECTED b:Rita decided to stop smoking， for she didn’ t want to die of lung cancer.

CORRECTED c:Rita decided to stop smoking; she didn’ t want to die of lung cancer.

Features of Clear and Effective Sentences

Clear and effective sentences have the following features:unity，coherence，conciseness，emphasis and variety.这五点基本特征便于句子表述意义明确，吸引读者，使读者迅速了解作者的意图，理解文章中所体现的思想和感情。

A unified sentence expresses a single complete idea.It neither contains irrelevant ideas nor expresses an incomplete thought.句子的统一性原则要求一个句子围绕一个主题展开，并表达一层基本意思，以便全句具有整体感，如例9。同等重要的、并列的句子成分要用同类的语法形式来表示，如例10和例11。如果句子所表达的两个或两个以上的意思不是同等重要的，要用主从复合句或别的结构，如例11和例12。

9.FAULTY:I was doing my homework last night，and I heard a big noise outside.

UNIFIED:While I was doing my homework last night，I heard a big noise outside.

10.FAULTY:The teacher was sympathetic，tolerant，and students respected him.

UNIFIED:The teacher was sympathetic，tolerant，and respected by students.

11.FAULTY:The work is handsome and skillfully done.

UNIFIED:The work is handsomely and skillfully done.

12.FAULTY:The snow stopped when the old man died.

UNIFIED:The old man died when the snow stopped.

13.FAULTY:In case she had been ill for a month，she was never absent from school.

UNIFIED:Although she had been ill for a month，she was never absent from school.

Coherence is a fundamental principle in sentence writing.It demands that all parts in a sentence be properly connected，and their relationships be made immediately clear and intelligible.句子的连贯要求句子前后之间要有照应、有衔接，思想的表达应该是有序的、清楚的，句子与句子之间的过渡要符合逻辑，不能造成歧义或矛盾。连贯不仅使句子的中心思想突出，而且使其措辞协调。

In order to promote the coherence of a sentence and to help guide the reader through it，writers often use discourse markers，which explain what is happening in the text at a particular point.Discourse markers are essentially of two kinds:those which organize the text and those which express the writer’ s point of view.The commonly used discourse markers are listed below.

For Organizing the Text

Sequencing:firstly，then，at this point，secondly，next，finally，in conclusion.

Re-expressing:that is to say，or rather，to put it another way.

Specifying:namely，that is to say，viz.，to wit.

Referring:in this respect，in that connection，as has been said，apart from this.

Resuming:returning to the previous point，to resume.

Exemplifying:for example，for instance，e.g.，by way of illustration.

Summarizing:to sum up，in short，briefly.

Focusing:let us first consider，turning now to.

For Expressing the Writer’ s Point of View

Introducing further evidence:in addition，furthermore，moreover，also.

Comparing a further point with a previous one:likewise，similarly，in the same way.

Denying expectation:however，nevertheless，yet，though.

Admitting the unexpected:actually，as a matter of fact.

Correcting from expected to unexpected:instead，on the contrary.

Contrasting:on the other hand，at the same time.

Dismissing:in any case，despite this.

Establishing a causal link:so，consequently，therefore，thus，hence.

Giving a reason:because，for this reason，it follows that，on account of this.

Indicating a result:as a result，so that，as a consequence of this.

Stating a purpose:with the intention of，with this in mind，to this end，in order to.

Stating a condition:if，unless，in that case，otherwise.

Expressing a degree of certainty:admittedly，of course，presumably，clearly.

Expressing an attitude:amazingly， fortunately， disappointingly， inevitably.

N.B.:When using these，be careful of introducing your own value judgments，making assumptions or jumping to conclusions without sound evidence.

Coherence is violated when faults like the following appear in the sentence:faulty parallelism，misplaced modifier，dangling modifiers，confusing shifts，etc.Compare the following pairs to have a better understanding of coherence.

14.FAULTY:The Allies decided to invade Italy and then that they would launch a massive assault on the Normandy coast.

COHERENT:The Allies decided to invade Italy and then to launch a massive assault on the Normandy coast.

15.FAULTY:He wants either to study English Literature or study World History.

COHERENT:He wants to study either English Literature or World History.

16.FAULTY:Many people choose air transportation because it is fast，offers convenience，and it is not very expensive.

COHERENT:Many people choose air transportation because it is fast，convenient and inexpensive.

17.FAULTY:The students attending our school are more intelligent than your school.

COHERENT:The students attending our school are more intelligent than the students attending your school.

18.MISPLACED:More and more waste and poisonous gases are given off to the air，which pollute the rain falling down to the ground.

COHERENT:More and more waste and poisonous gases have polluted the air，and the air in turn pollutes the rain.

19.MISPLACED:Bill yelled at the howling dog in his underwear.

COHERENT:Bill，in his underwear，yelled at the howling dog.

20.MISPLACED:Tim and Rita decided to send their daughter to college on the day she was born.

COHERENT:On the day their daughter was born，Tim and Rita decided to send her to college.

21.MISPLACED:She read a poem to the class that didn’ t seem to make any sense.

COHERENT:She read to the class a poem that didn’ t seem to make any sense.

22.MISPLACED:The more you talk in English，the more you will make progress.

COHERENT:The more you talk in English，the more progress you will make.

To be concise is to avoid wordiness，that is，the use of more words than necessary to make one’ s meaning clear.You should cut needless introductory phrases，useless repetition of words，etc.言以简洁为贵，要避免累赘。

23.WORDY:The factory was close to the point of being at bankruptcy.

CONCISE:The factory was almost bankrupt.

24.WORDY:Mr.Smith usually loves to drink all kinds of wines that are produced in France.

CONCISE:Mr.Smith likes French wines.

25.WORDY:In spite of the fact that he is lazy，I like him.

CONCISE:In spite of his laziness，I like him.

26.WORDY:For the people who are diligent and kind， money is just the thing to be used to buy the thing they need.

CONCISE:Diligent，caring people use money only to buy what they need.

27.WORDY:A traditional opinion is often held by many people that fresh water will no longer be used up.

CONCISE:Historically，people assume that fresh water will never be used up.

28.WORDY:With the increasing number of the population and factories，the amount of the fresh water in use is growing rapidly.

CONCISE:With the increase in population and factories，the demand for fresh water is growing rapidly.

The important idea of a sentence should be expressed with emphasis.Commonly used ways for placing emphasis on sentences or words are listed below at the end of each corresponding sentence.

29.Government of the people，by the people，for the people shall not perish from the earth.(Repetition)

30.Haven’ t we seen too much pollution around us? (Rhetorical questions)

31.We are not destroying the Earth; we are destroying ourselves.(Negative-positive statements)

32.It is not impossible that one day we will only find standing room.(Double negative)

33.Under no circumstances will China employ nuclear weapons first.(Inversion)

34.The musician was born poor，and poor he remained all his life.(Inversion)

35.Spare the rod and spoil the child.孩子不打不成器。(Alliteration押头韵)

36.He is the very person I have been looking for.(Emphatic words or phrases)

37.We do have no choice but to protect our environment.(Emphatic words or phrases)

38.We should take whatever measures we can to solve this threatening problem.(Emphatic words or phrases)

39.Environmental protection is by far the most urgent task for us to tackle.(Emphatic words or phrases)

Although sentences which have the subject first may be grammatically correct，too many of them in one paragraph are monotonous.To avoid this common cause of dullness in writing，vary the beginnings of your sentences，as in Examples 40 to 43.

40.DULL:Many Chinese people have gone to the United States in the past 15 years.

IMPROVED:The past 15 years have brought many Chinese people to the United States.

41.DULL:Students should certainly make continuous efforts.

IMPROVED:Continuous efforts on the part of students are certainly required.

42.DULL:We easily drew the conclusion through the investigation.

IMPROVED:The investigation easily led us to the conclusion.

43.DULL:If you compare bicycles with cars carefully，you will find bicycles are superior to cars.

IMPROVED:Careful comparison of bicycles with cars will show the superiority of the former over the latter.

Another cause of sentence dullness is lack of variety in the kinds of sentences in a paragraph.Too many sentences of the same structure can make your style monotonous.Generally，the simple sentence is useful in expressing haste，excitement，exactness，or simplicity of idea; the compound sentence is effectively used to indicate comparison or contrast， parallel actions or ideas，or action-result ideas; the complex sentence ties together related ideas of unequal importance.The less important ideas belong in dependent clauses.To keep your reader’ s interest and express the varied thoughts and relationships in your mind，use a variety of sentence types.You can shorten or lengthen sentences，change from one sentence arrangement to another，repeat key words，and in other ways maintain the reader's interest and give force to important words and ideas.Compare the sentences in each pair as follows to have a better understanding of variety.

44.DULL:Teenagers are pressured by school work.They are also encouraged by their peers.Under such circumstances，they resort to smoking.But sometimes they feel a little guilty.

IMPROVED:Pressured by school work and encouraged by their peers，teenagers often resort to smoking，though they feel a little guilty sometimes.

45.DULL:Natural resources are very limited.They will be exhausted in the near future.It is not true.But it becomes a major concern around the world.This is a widely accepted fact.

IMPROVED:It is a widely accepted fact that there is a major concern around the world for the exhaustion of limited natural resources in the near future，though it is unlikely to be true.

46.DULL:We can imagine the beautiful surroundings.There are many trees along the streets.There is a clean river in the city.There are many fishes in the river.There are willow trees on the one side.There are some pieces of grassland on the other side.There are many flowers on them.

IMPROVED:Just imagine the beautiful surroundings if we make our cities greener.Green trees line the streets.A clean river winds through the city，in which a lot of fishes abound.On the one side stand rows of willow trees.On the other side lies a stretch of grassland sprinkled with many yellow and red flowers.

Reinforcement　知识复习

1.Can you combine each group into one sentence? See how many different ways you can do this.

(1)Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon，England.He wrote many well known plays.He died in 1623.

(2)Egypt is an old country.It has many fabulous monuments.It plays an important diplomatic role in the Arab world.

(3)The cereals are taken to a factory.At the factory they are cleaned and sorted.After the cleaning and sorting，they are added to the other ingredients.The other ingredients have already been cooked.

(4)Gold is a precious metal.Gold has been traditionally used in the making of jewelry.Now gold is used in the manufacture of sophisticated electronic equipment.This new demand has caused gold prices to rise steadily over the last ten years.

(5)The battle of Hastings took place in 1066.The battle of Hastings was between the Saxons and the Normans.The Normans won.After the battle French became the language of the royal court.The royal court also moved to London from Winchester.

2.Improve the following sentences to meet the five features of effective sentences.

(1)She came out successful in the speech contest and an award was received by her.

(2)We must be consistent in writing.Efforts should be made concerning diction selection，style and tone.

(3)Do not smoke any more.If we smoke， we may not only harm ourselves，but do harm to those who sit around us.

(4)He didn’ t have enough experience，which is the reason why he didn’ t do the work well.

(5)The student has been warned not to cheat in the exam any more.The student has been warned many times before.The teacher advised him to be honest or he would be punished.

Extension　知识拓展

美国总统的演讲向来都是很好的英语学习材料。有兴趣的同学不妨从下列链接中学习这些精彩的英文作品。

美国总统就职演讲:http://news.sina.com.cn/pc/2009-01-20/326/1174.html。

著名的总统演讲词:http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0878601.html， http://www.presidentsusa.net/speeches.html。