Sentence Skills with Readings

701 Pages·2009·31.916 MB·English

by  John Langan

JO H N LAN G AN

Fourth Edition
Sentence Skills
with Readings
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Paul Langan
Higher Education
Boston Burr Ridge, IL Dubuque, IA New York San Francisco St. Louis
Bangkok Bogota Caracas Kuala Lumpur Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan Montreal New Delhi Santiago Seoul Singapore Sydney Taipei Toronto
The McGraw-HiII Companies
Mc
Graw Higher Education
Hill
Published by McGraw-Hill, an imprint of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas,
New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2010, 2005, 2001, 1997. All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system,
without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any
network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
12 3 4 5 67890 DOC/DOC 0 9
Student Edition
ISBN: 978-0-07-353326-1
MHID: 0-07-353326-2
Instructor’s Edition
ISBN: 978-0-07-723740-0
MHID: 0-07-723740-4
Editor in Chief: Michael Ryan Cover Designer: Preston Thomas
Publisher: David Patterson Production Supervisor: Tandra Jorgensen
Sponsoring Editor: John Kindler Media Project Manager: Ronald Nelms, Jr.
Marketing Manager: Allison Jones Composition: 11/13 Times Roman
Developmental Editor: Jesse Hassenger by Macmillan Publishing Solutions
Project Manager: Lori Hazzard, Printing: 45# New Era Matte by R. R. Donnelley
Macmillan Publishing Solutions
Credits appear on page 678 and constitute an extension of the copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langan, John, 1942-
Sentence skills with readings / John Langan. — 4th ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-07-353326-1 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-07-353326-2 (alk. paper)
1. English language-Sentences-Problems, exercises, etc. 2. English language—
Rhetoric—Problems, exercises, etc. 3. English language—Grammar—Problems, exercises,
etc. 4. Report writing—Problems, exercises, etc. 5. College readers. I. Title.
PE1441.L356 2009
808'.0427—dc22
2008049421
The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a Web site
does not indicate an endorsement by the authors or McGraw-Hill, and McGraw-Hill does not guarantee the
accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
www.mhhe.com
Praise for Sentence Skills
“I would describe the text as very useful, adaptable and current. It can meet a number of
needs within today’s classrooms. The descriptive language works for audio-visual generations
that continue to fill our classrooms. I like the tone, style and level of the text.”
—Terry Clark, Kennedy-King College
“A well-defined, viable resource for teaching and learning the basic fundamentals of
grammar and writing in any mode of instruction.”
—Judy Covington, Trident Technical College
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Inc. —Pamela Hudson, Hawaii Community College
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clear style and tone. His breakdown of writing into the four bases is the clearest I have
found anywhere.”
—Syd Bartman, Mt. San Antonio College
“Because it is so complete, Sentence Skills with Readings is perfect for the new teacher,
or one who has just been assigned to a class. The seasoned teacher will enjoy the many
features of the text and still have room to customize his or her class.”
—G. Jack Pond, Leeward Community College
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About the Authors
John Langan has taught and authored books on writing and
reading skills for over thirty years. Before teaching, he earned
advanced degrees in writing at Rutgers University and in reading at
Rowan University. John now lives with his wife, Judith Nadell, near
Philadelphia. In addition to his wife and Philly sports teams, his
passions include reading and turning nonreaders on to the pleasure
and power of books. Through Townsend Press, his educational
publishing company, he has developed the nonprofit “Townsend
Library”—a collection of more than seventy new and classic stories
with wide appeal to readers of all ages.
Paul Langan has tutored adult students in basic reading and
writing skills since he was a college undergraduate. Beginning as a
community college student, he went on to graduate with honors
from La Salle University and later earned a Master’s Degree in
reading, writing, and literacy from the University of Pennsylvania. In
addition to editing and authoring a popular series of young adult
novels, Paul has taught composition at Camden County College. A
husband and father, he lives “a stone’s throw” from Philadelphia
and recently had a long-term hope fulfilled when the Phillies
finally won the World Series.
Contents
To the Instructor xii
PART 1: Effective Writing 2
1 Learning Sentence Skills 4
Why Learn Sentence Skills? 4
Your Attitude toward Writing 7
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Inc. 2 A Brief Guide to Effective Writing 11
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Ten Writing Assignments 60
PART 2: Sentence Skills 66
SECTION 1: Sentences 68
4 Subjects and Verbs 68
Mastery Tests 78
5 Fragments 82
Mastery Tests 101
6 Run-Ons 106
Mastery Tests 123
Contents
7 Sentence Variety I 127
Mastery Tests 143
SECTION 2: Verbs, Pronouns, and Agreement 145
8 Standard English Verbs 145
Mastery Tests 155
9 Irregular Verbs 159
Mastery Tests 170
10 Subject-Verb Agreement 174
Mastery Tests 185
11 Consistent Verb Tense 189
Mastery Tests 194
12 Additional Information about Verbs 196
Mastery Tests 204
13 Pronoun Reference, Agreement, and
Point of View 206
Mastery Tests 217
14 Pronoun Types 221
Mastery Tests 234
SECTION 3: Modifiers and Parallelism 236
15 Adjectives and Adverbs 236
Mastery Tests 244
16 Misplaced Modifiers 246
Mastery Tests 252
17 Dangling Modifiers 254
Mastery Tests 260
18 Faulty Parallelism 262
Mastery Tests 270
19 Sentence Variety II 272
Mastery Tests 286
Contents IX
SECTION 4: Punctuation and Mechanics 288
20 Paper Format 288
Mastery Tests 293
21 Capital Letters 295
Mastery Tests 307
22 Numbers and Abbreviations 311
Mastery Tests 316
23 End Marks 318
Mastery Tests 321
24 Apostrophe 323
Mastery Tests 336
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Mastery Tests 392
29 Spelling Improvement 394
Mastery Tests 403
30 Omitted Words and Letters 405
Mastery Tests 410
31 Commonly Confused Words 412
Mastery Tests 436
32 Effective Word Choice 440
Mastery Tests 450
X Contents
PART 3: Reinforcement of the Skills 454
Combined Mastery Tests 456
Fragments and Run-Ons 457
Verbs 459
Pronouns 461
Faulty Modifiers and Parallelism 463
Capital Letters and Punctuation 465
Word Use 467
Editing and Proofreading Tests 469
Test 1: Fragments 472
Test 2: Fragments 474
Test 3: Run-Ons (Fused Sentences) 476
Test 4: Run-Ons (Comma Splices) 478
Test 5: Standard English Verbs 480
Test 6: Irregular Verbs 482
Test 7: Faulty Parallelism 484
Test 8: Capital Letters 486
Test 9: Apostrophes 488
Test 10: Quotation Marks 490
Test 11: Commas 492
Test 12: Commonly Confused Words 494
Combined Editing Tests 496
PART 4: Readings for Writing 522
Introduction to the Readings 524
A Change of Attitude Grant Berry 535
Do It Better! Ben Carson, M.D., with Cecil Murphey 546
Lost Years, Found Dreams Regina Ruiz 558
Lets Get Specific Beth Johnson 567
All the Good Things Sister Helen Mrosla 577
Responsibility M. Scott Peck 584