Parallel struc-ture means that words and phrases in the sentence follow the same grammatical pattern.. Each phrase has a past tense verb and a noun The failure was caused not only by an
Trang 1Sometimes these errors can be corrected simply by moving the modifier to the right place Other times, you may need to add a subject and verb to clarify who or what is modified by the phrase Here are some more examples of misplaced and dangling modifiers and their corrections:
Incorrect: My uncle told me about feeding cattle in the kitchen.
Correct: In the kitchen, my uncle told me about feeding cattle.
Incorrect: Broken and beyond repair, Grandma threw the dish away.
Correct: Grandma threw away the dish that was broken and beyond repair.
Incorrect: While driving to school, the dog ran right in front of my car.
Correct: The dog ran right in front of my car while I was driving to school.
P ARALLEL S TRUCTURE
Parallel structure in sentences makes ideas easier to follow and expresses ideas more gracefully Parallel struc-ture means that words and phrases in the sentence follow the same grammatical pattern Notice how this works in the following examples:
Not parallel: Every day I wrote, exercised, and was meditating.
(Two verbs are in the past tense, one is a past participle.) Parallel: Every day I wrote, exercised, and meditated.
(All three verbs are in the past tense.) Not parallel: I am looking for an assistant who is smart, reliable, and will come on time.
(Two of the characteristics are adjectives while the third consists of a verb phrase and prepositional phrase.)
Parallel: I am looking for an assistant who is smart, reliable, and punctual.
(All three characteristics are adjectives.)
Parallelism is important in lists, as in the examples above, and in the not only/but also sentence pattern.
He assured me that he not only saved the file, but also created a back-up.
(Each phrase has a past tense verb and a noun)
The failure was caused not only by an unintentional error but also by a deliberate miscommunication.
(Each phrase has a preposition, an adjective, and a noun)
Trang 2R EDUNDANCY AND W ORDINESS
Some TOEFL exam questions may ask you to identify or eliminate redundancy or unnecessary wordiness
within sentences Redundancy is the unnecessary repetition of ideas Wordiness is the use of several words when a few can express the same idea more clearly and concisely These two problems typically result from three different causes:
■ The use of unnecessary words or phrases
Redundant: The room was red in color.
Correct: The room was red.
■ Unnecessary repetition of nouns or pronouns
Redundant: Thelma she ran into her room and slammed the door.
Correct: Thelma ran into her room and slammed the door.
■ The use of wordy phrases instead of adverbs
Wordy: He looked at me in a threatening manner.
Concise: He looked at me threateningly.
The following sentences all have unnecessary repetition or wordiness Unnecessary words have been stricken:
I returned back to my room after the meeting was over.
Please repeat again what you said.
The waiters and waitresses they really take care of you here.
Fundraising it provides just enough money for us to function.
The circumstances are very delicate in nature.
It was a story that was difficult to tell Correction: It was a difficult story to tell.
Practice 7
Rewrite the following sentences to correct any misplaced or dangling modifiers, unparallel structure, wordi-ness, or redundancy You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A
1 Fried in butter, Sylvan likes eggs.
2 At the age of three, Grandpa took me fishing.
3 While barbecuing our steaks, a hungry salesman walked into the backyard.
4 The study focused on the effects of violence on television, in video games, and violent actions in
videos with music
Trang 35 She not only voted against the new policy, but also she was hoping to convince others to vote against it
as well
6 The film Apocalypse Now it took Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness and set it in Vietnam during
the war
7 I really like to read science fiction and enjoy reading it very much.
8 At Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix played a version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that was electrifying.
Prepositional Idioms
Prepositions are often one of the most difficult aspects of learning any foreign language Just as you need to memorize dozens of irregular verbs, you also need to learn these prepositional idioms:
according to
afraid of
anxious about
apologize to (someone)
apologize for (something)
approve of
ashamed of
aware of
blame (someone) for
(something)
bored with
capable of
compete with
complain about
composed of
concentrate on
concerned with
congratulate on
conscious of
consist of
depend on/upon equal to
except for fond of from now on from time to time frown on/upon full of
glance at/through grateful to (someone) grateful for (something)
in accordance with incapable of
in conflict inferior to insist on/upon
in the habit of
in the near future interested in knowledge of
next to
of the opinion
on top of opposite of prior to proud of regard to related to rely on/upon respect for responsible for satisfied with similar to sorry for suspicious of take care of thank (someone) for (something) tired of
with regard to
Trang 4Practice 8
Answer the questions below You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A If the question has a blank, choose
the correct answer to fill in the blank If the question has four underlined words or phrases, choose the under-lined word or phrase that is incorrect.
1 I plan to return to school .
a at the near future
b in the near future
c on the near future
d within the near future
2 Chad is in the opinion that the woman next to the window is fond of him because she glances at him
from time to time
D
a A
b B
c C
d D
3 The report is the effects of genetic engineering on food.
a concerned about
b concerned in
c concerned for
d concerned with
4 I would like to congratulate you on how well you have taken care of all the matters related on the
reorganization of your department
D
a A
b B
c C
d D
5 I hope you know you can always me.
a depend in
b depend on
c depend to
Trang 5P u t t i n g I t A l l To g e t h e r : A S t r u c t u r e P r a c t i c e Q u i z
Answer the questions below You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A If the question has a blank, choose
the correct answer to fill in the blank If the question has four underlined words or phrases, choose the under-lined word or phrase that is incorrect.
1 The players prepared good for the tournament but performed poorly.
a A
b B
c C
d D
2 After the security guard’s performance was evaluated, management decides to dismiss her and asked
her to turn in her uniform
a A
b B
c C
d D
3 If your not too busy, and I know everyone is, please read and complete this questionnaire.
a A
b B
c C
d D
4 Mitch was sure the problem
a is solve
b is solving
c was solved
d was solven
5 Emmanuel wishes that he never moved from his old neighborhood.
a had
b did
c would
d could
Trang 66 The plumber did a complete estimate for us so that we would know exactly how much the
job would costed
D
a A
b B
c C
d D
7 Ginger sees her mother regularly She was healthy and strong, even though she is over 80 years old.
a A
b B
c C
d D
8 If the message was more detailed, I would have been able to understand it when I read it.
a A
b B
c C
d D
9 Half of the textile wall hangings were crooked, but each of the paintings were slightly askew.
a A
b B
c C
d D
10 Neither Sam nor James wanted their name associated with the project.
a A
b B
c C
d D